This is the seventh and final installment about my week long tour for TD Canadian Children's Book Week 2013. I toured in northern Saskatchewan. More on the whole idea/background of Book Week here. Catch up on: installment one, or maybe installment two, number three, number four, and if you'd like number five and number six.

Saturday May 11, 2013
I was up early. Seriously early. Like 3:45am early so I could walk around my room like a zombie doing the final packing while sipping on a Keurig hotel room coffee (surprisingly good that--especially since I'd bought real cream to put in it).

I loaded the luggage in the car with and took all my belongings and garbage out of its nooks and crannies. After spending so much time in that car over six days it became kinda like a second hotel room.

My wheels for the tour

I found the airport in the dark with no trouble (yay me) and parked the rental. Quite a few people at the airport. I’m not sure why this always surprises me. Anyway, there were no issues lining up for this and lining up for that, and then finally waiting for my flight to be called.

Flyin WestJet

As I sat in the plane the most beautiful sunrise appeared. It was like a parting gift.

Sunrise in Saskatoon

The flight was uneventful. They don’t call those early morning flights “red eyes” for nothing. I collected all my luggage (phew!), caught a shuttle bus, loaded my mini van (it felt huge after driving a compact for a week!), bought some breakfast, and drove myself home. Once home I promptly shed my glamorous touring author persona (:>) to be mom again but that’s okay. You need a life if you want stuff to write about.

Thank you to the Canadian Children’s Book Centre and TD Bank for this amazing thing called Book Week. To the kids (keep reading and writing!) and teachers and librarians, you were all wonderful, and I won’t ever forget how special and welcome you made me feel. And my final huge, enormous and gigantic thank you goes to my tour organizer Saache Heinrich for all her work planning and coordinating where and when I went, where I’d stay, and how I’d get there. It was flawlessly organized.

THANK YOU Saache!!

The lovely gifts and cards I received from the schools and libraries.

My Saskatchewan Playlist

Thanks to all the time in the car with the radio on, loud, these songs will forever remind me of Saskatchewan:
Thrift Shop, Macklemore
My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark, Fall Out Boy
Radioactive, Imagine Dragons
Come & Get It, Selena Gomez
Can’t Hold Us, Macklemore
Blurred Lines, Robin Thicke
Feel This Moment, Pitbull
Hurricane, Bridgit Mendler
Don’t YouWorry Child, Swedish House Mafia
22, Taylor Swift
Get Lucky, Daft Punk
Crazy Kids, Kesha
Gentlemen, Psy

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June is the end of spring and the start of summer so what better time to talk about books?! Here's a roundup of book talk on Kidlitosphere blogs that you won't want to miss. Pack a few of these recommended titles in your beach bags.

Early Literacy

• Starting us off with early literacy, Darshana at Flowering Minds is sharing "A Fun, Fun, Fun read by debut author Tara Lazar about a trapdoor, monsters for sale, a horrible return policy, and a simple story about a brother and a sister that will make you smile." What's this great book? The Monstore of course. Head on over to the blog post to find out more about it.

• Catherine at Story Snug recommends The Paper Dolls by Julia Donaldson. She says "The Paper Dolls is a beautiful story. We read the book and then downloaded paper dolls from the publisher's website to colour, cut out and help raise money for the charity, Save the Children." So please hop on over to her blog for more details.

• At Randomly Reading Alex reviews In Andal's House by Gloria Whelan. Alex describes it as "a lovely picture book about a young boy who experiences caste discrimination during the Duwali Festival of Light." Read the full review here.

Nonfiction

• Susan at The Book Chook brings you talk of a book written and illustrated by Narelle Oliver. "Sand Swimmers is a fascinating book that gives readers a glimpse of Australia's so-called dead heart via elegant text and superb illustrations," Susan says. How can you not click over to her blog to find out more?

• Over at Teaching Authors Carmella shares a post by her co-blogger, Jill Esbaum, about the release of Jill's newest nonfiction title: Angry Birds Playground: Dinosaurs, from National Geographic Publishers. You'll find a sample of new facts about dinosaurs if you visit. So what are you waiting for?

• Gail over at Original Content enjoyed a book by Susan Mitchell. As Gail says, "I'm interested in finding environmental children's books that don't preach or instruct. The Rainforest Grew All Around is a great example of what I'm looking for. Child readers or listeners can just feel part of an environment. This book is also great because it can be read in different ways for different age groups." Head on over there to find out more.

Middle Grade Fiction

• There's so much great fiction out there, but be sure to look into these recommended reads. Start off with Jen Robinson's Book Page to find out more about a great middle grade novel. Jen recommends it because "Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library is a very fun middle grade novel, filled with puzzles as well as references to modern and classic children's books. This is perfect escapist fare for 10 year olds." Find more here.

• Then go to visit Katie at Secrets & Sharing Soda for a fantastic book review. Katie says "The Quirks: Welcome to Normal is one of my favorite books of the year so far. The writing is fresh and funny, and the characters are memorable and interesting. I don't read many books outside of the realistic fiction genre, but I really can't say enough good things about this one! It's also a great choice for kids transitioning out of early chapter books and into middle grade, and for families to read together." Get all the details with the full blog post.

• Charlotte's Library is the place to find out why Charlotte recommends The Wells Request by Polly Shulman. Charlotte says it's "one of my favorite middle grade fantasy books of the year so far." Find out why here.

• Over at Shelf-employed Lisa recommends you order Sharon Creech's forthcoming novel The Boy on the Porch due out in September. She says "As usual, Sharon Creech shows that she is a masterful storyteller, heartwarming and relevant." Read the full review here.

• Katy at A Library Mama won a book and fell in love with it. What book? Jinx by Sage Blackwood. Katy summarizes: "Orphan Jinx struggles with magic, secrets, and relationships with his wizard teacher and a girl in a red hood in this colorful middle-grade fantasy." The details are all here.

• Over at Boys Rule Boys Read Iron Guy Carl has some recommendations for summer reading that will interest boys. Check out why Alvin Ho: Allergic to Babies, Burglars, and Bumps in the Night by Lenore Look as well as, for more of a teen reader, Ice Drift by Theodore Taylor get his seal of approval.

Teen/YA Fiction

• Over at Yellow Brick Reads you'll find a book review of Missing Ellen by Natasha Mac a' Bháird. Maeve says, "It is a poignant exploration of friendship and loss, which promotes the need to carry on. Missing Ellen is aimed at a 12+ readership." Read more of Maeve's thoughts about the book here.

• Don't miss Brenda's recommendation of Rogue by Lyn Miller-Lachmann over at proseandkahn. Why? Brenda says: "Author Lyn Miller-Lachmann draws on some painful childhood moments to create Kiara, a lonely eighth grader with Aspergers Syndrome, in her sophomore novel." Find the full review here.

Interviews & Thoughtful Discussion

• If you'd like to think about children's literature as a body of work, don't miss Mary Ann at Great Kids Books because she has a fascinating look at heroes in children's literature. As she says, "Children's stories permeate our culture. This is nothing new -- but lately I've been wondering what the heroes from children's literature say about our times. From Alice to Matilda to Harry Potter, what do we learn about our own times?"

• Alison Goldberg interviews author/illustrator Janine Macbeth about her latest. Alison says "I blog about children's books with activism themes. This month I interview the talented Janine Macbeth who wrote, illustrated, and published her debut picture book, Oh, Oh, Baby Boy!, a beautiful story about engaged fatherhood. Her newly-formed independent press, Blood Orange Press, is "a literary home for diverse readers" and she ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to bring this book into the world." Find out more here.

• This month the Author of blog has been following a theme. Kate Hannigan says: "I've been celebrating graphic novels throughout the month of June! And this post, June 24th, tops off the month and features a fun graphic novel/early reader called Odd Duck. With my blog, I interview the authors of children's books and talk about the inspiration and ideas behind them. This week's post is an interview with Odd Duck author Cecil Castellucci." Don't miss the whole interview.

Wrapping Up
If you've read this far, to thank you for joining me here, would you like a free PDF Teacher/Librarian/Parents' Guide to my book Sorting through Spring? It's got lots of great activities and reproducibles to have fun with K-2nd grade math patterning and sorting. You can get the direct link to the PDF file here, or browse all of great guides from my publisher OwlKids Books here.

Don't Miss July's Carnival
I hope you enjoyed this roundup of book related blog links. Next month join the Carnival of Children's Literature over at proseandkahn for a look at what made up the book buzz in July.

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This is the sixth installment about my week long tour for TD Canadian Children's Book Week 2013. I toured in northern Saskatchewan. More on the whole idea/background of Book Week here. Catch up on: installment one, or maybe installment two, number three, number four or even number five.

Friday May 10, 2013
I was kind of sad to be heading out for my last day of touring. So to cheer myself up I stopped at a Timmies in Saskatoon to get a coffee for the road. When I got out of my car I almost stepped on a chunk of lettuce and an orange triangular piece of cheese lying on the pavement. Literary allusion alert! Of course I thought of the cheese in Wimpy Kid, and also I’d just read “Wonder” a couple days before which itself had a reference to said Wimpy Kid cheese. Life meets art? Wish I’d taken a picture of it.

I headed south for about 1 hour and 40 minutes to Loreburn. Another lovely route.

Sprinklers span the horizon

Roadside slough?

The road ahead

Blackened field. I swear smoke was coming off it still.

Loreburn grain elevator

Loreburn Central School! Here I had a lovely greeter named Natasha, a Hunger Games fan. She showed me around the school and answered all my questions. She even introduced me to the kids for my first presentation. This time it was a workshop on writing. The kids and I had a great time coming up with story premises based on asking why about that cheese I’d seen earlier to prove that you can make up a story starting with almost anything. And then the kids came up with their own story ideas based on a photo I showed them of my cat on a skateboard.

 The staff invited me to join them for a pot luck lunch. What a feast! Pasta salad, lettuce salad, roast beef, sliced chicken, and kiwi pavlova for dessert. Yummy!

My second presentation at Loreburn was about “Sorting through Spring.” They were a great group and a wonderful way to wrap up my week’s presentations. Thank you Loreburn!

After good byes it was back up the road to Saskatoon.

Loved the contrast here

Amazing view

Abandoned building...schoolhouse? Story!

Field and fluffy clouds

Touch the clouds?

That night a group of perhaps high schoolers shared my hotel floor. Much laughter and door slamming ensued until they all left for somewhere. It was peaceful for about fifteen minutes until the clock radio alarm went off in the room next door. And didn’t shut off. For like an hour. I had to catch a flight that left at 6:00am the next morning so I finally had to call the front desk to get someone to come shut it off. Last night in Saskatchewan. :<

Random Memorable Moments

• The duck that flew right across the road in front of me. Not sure how I didn’t hit it but very glad I didn’t.
• Realizing a "wide load" sign here really means a wide load, as in move onto the shoulder or you’ll hit the wide load coming at you from the other direction.
• The thrill of thinking that a tumbleweed might have just zipped across the road in front of me and disappeared into the field. It was blown vegetation of some sort. Cool.
• Wind in action: Got out of my car to take one of the photos above and the wind blew the car door back into me. Ouch. Bruise.
• Noting that drivers actually take turns merging at the “Zipper merge” sign. Maybe we should adopt that signage in Ontario because using “merge” alone seems to mean: quickly try to get in the appropriate lane while cutting off anyone else who might get in front of you 
• Count for Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” on the Satellite Radio: 2
• Count for Fall Out Boy’s “My Songs Know” on the Satellite Radio: 3
• Count for Macklemore’s “Ceiling Can’t Hold Us” on the Satellite Radio: 4 

I'll have one more post about my TD Canadian Children's Book Week tour to wrap things up. It'll be here later this weekend after I take a brief break to bring you the June Carnival of Children's Literature.

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This is the fifth installment about my week long tour for TD Canadian Children's Book Week 2013. I toured in northern Saskatchewan. More on the whole idea/background of TD Book Week here. Catch up on: installment one, or maybe installment two, number three, or even number four. 

Good morning North Battleford, SK

Thursday May 9, 2013
Today it was two library presentations. First up was the public library in town so I didn’t have far to go.

The North Battleford Library lecture hall was such a great space. Okay, at first I was a little intimidated by the thought of the kids looming above me but it worked very well. Two seat sections were filled with kids. (I mentioned in an earlier post that I refrained from photographing kids although I kind of regret that now. But I’m not comfortable putting photos of other peoples’ kids on the internet.)

My view

The kids' view

This was a great group of kids. Thanks to the kids, their teachers, and librarian Linda Peterson for a great visit. From here it was north two hours to Meadow Lake. The scenery changed to be more hilly and more treed.

The ice wasn't out yet here

Lighthouse overlooking the lake

The road in front of me

Glaslyn grain elevators

A tree outstanding in its field

Cows in their field

Evergreens and trees!

The Meadow Lake Library had a great crowd. The kids came from the public school. They sat on cozy rugs in front of me. Some even got the library pillows for extra comfiness. We were in a room surrounded by books as I talked about my books and all the work a writer puts into writing a book. :> Everyone was very enthusiastic. Thanks for a great visit!

After that I had to make for Saskatoon. So it was south from Meadow Lake, a gas and coffee fill up in North Battleford, and back to the area of the Radisson flooding. All traffic was being monitored so I was flagged to stop. They handed me a map. Detour for me. No traffic as small as my car was allowed through going in a SW direction.

I will admit to having a few moments wondering about the detour because there was a lot of water around at the start of the route. Later, at one point I rounded a corner and there was a herd of bison right by the road! They were behind a fence so probably a domesticated herd but still, how cool to see actual bison in the prairies?! There were no shoulders so I couldn’t pull off the road to get a photo. Rats.

I'm going around the flooding?

Flooded fields

Some areas of caution on the detour

Debris from flooding on the detour

Lots of water lying around

A crooked house

Love the architecture of the church

Sun getting lower, almost done driving

All told the detour added about an hour to the trip. So, just over four hours of driving later I checked back into the Saskatoon Travelodge- - but this time not the room across from the parking lot door. Yay! I was so glad to be out of the car.

Random Memorable Moments

• Seeing a couple huge farm vehicles in the A&W parking lot at breakfast
• The sign that read “Stock at large 5 km” but sadly I never did see wandering cows
• Second fart of the tour successfully ignored :>
• Today’s roadside wildlife sightings went: deer roadkill, dead moose, dead deer, live deer munching grass on the side of the road!, dead deer, two live deer!, moose carcass, dead deer, Molson Canadian beer case, a live deer!**
• Count for Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” on the Satellite Radio: 3
• Count for Fall Out Boy’s “My Songs Know” on the Satellite Radio: 3
• Count for Macklemore’s “Ceiling Can’t Hold Us” on the Satellite Radio: 7

**I see this here at home too so it wasn’t shocking to me or anything, I just don’t usually see so many large animals at one time. Eg. Today’s roadside wildlife count went: two live wild turkeys!, dead red squirrel, dead gray squirrel, dead chipmunk, about three impossible to identifys, one lucky cat.

Want to read about other days on my tour? Find:
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five--you're here
Day Six--coming shortly

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This is the fourth installment about my week long tour for TD Canadian Children's Book Week 2013. I toured in northern Saskatchewan. More on the whole idea/background of Book Week here. Catch up on: installment one, or maybe installment two, or even number three.

Wednesday May 8, 2013

I was packing the car in the morning when in the grass beyond the parking lot I caught sight of this little guy (or gal). When I posted it on my Facebook page I was told it was indeed a gopher, otherwise known as a Richardson’s ground squirrel. A first for me!

I didn't have to go far this morning. My first school was Queen Mary Community School. The library had a great old fashioned tub full of pillows in it. I thought that was cool. It was a very large audience but they were wonderful. Lots of kids volunteered to be Mr Fox. An hour went by very quickly. And at the end of my presentation many of the younger children came up and hugged me and thanked me for coming. The teachers gave me a nice gift. I’m proud to now own a bright blue book bag with the school’s logo on it.

Queen Mary foyer. I love the dream catcher.

Today's lunch was a treat. Jane Parrott took me to Amy’s on Second restaurant where I had a lovely big bowl of Italian chicken soup. Excellent! So go there if you’re ever in Prince Albert. After that it was pretty much just down the street to the second school.

Westview Community School

Westview Community School had a couple pigeons perched on the roof watching me approach. (:>) As I waited for the teacher to meet me, because it was lunch recess I listened and watched kids practicing hoop dancing in the gym. That was amazing! The drums were so powerful and the girls graceful. In Ms Radke's classroom I sat in a wooden rocking chair and shared my books with the classes. Here's the beautiful envelope for the card they gave me.


Then it was off to find North Battleford via Saskatoon. It was a three hour drive with rather a lot of excitement at one point:

Sorted green farm vehicles

More sorted vehicles

Share the road

A lookout stop

Go under the tankers

And then when I was near Radisson...

This doesn't look good

This really doesn't look good

Um, what happened to the road?

OMG time to start paying attention to driving!

This flooding was very scary. That transport in front of me was kicking up some serious waves. I took it slow. At one point the car hesitated for a moment and I think my heart stopped thinking it was going to stall, but I made it through. That was a lot of water.

You can read/watch a video about the flooding here on the Saskatoon CTV news: http://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/highway-16-under-water-1.1272194

Cool clouds

I was so done by the time I found the motel. Good night Battlefords.

Random Memorable Moments

• The billowing dust kicked up by vehicles racing down dirt side roads
• Successfully ignoring a big fart in the middle of one presentation
• Count for Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” on the Satellite Radio: 3
• Count for Fall Out Boy’s “My Songs Know” on the Satellite Radio: 5

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This is the third instalment about my week long tour for TD Canadian Children's Book Week 2013. I toured in northern Saskatchewan. More on the whole idea/background of Book Week here. Catch up on instalment one, or maybe instalment two.

Tuesday May 7, 2013
It was up early this morning to check out of the Saskatoon Travellodge and head east for two hours and forty minutes (about 214km) to Tisdale, Saskatchewan. Lots of loud peppy tunes and some great scenery made for a great trip. At one point a large silver hued coyote crossed the road in front of me. At least I think it was a coyote. It was a complete wow moment for me.

A cool cloud bank

Snow geese specks! (Trust me)

The Millennium Cross

A town!

Distant hills

A sudden dip in the road and a railroad trestle to span it!

The road and endless line of telephone poles

So much beautiful sky

A lot of photos, no? I did say it was over two hours in the car.

At the Tisdale Community Library I presented to kids in grade six about researching and writing techniques. They were a great audience. They asked some great questions, like if everything I've written has been turned into a book. Nope. I told tell I have manuscripts that have been rejected, and some I’m still working on. Afterwards one girl suggested a title for one of the manuscripts I talked about. I liked her suggestion because it was a title I’d thought of at one point but had put aside...must rethink that! And another girl came up to ask me some advice about her own writing. So wonderful to be able to help kids who are exploring their interests! Thanks to the librarians for setting everything up, and for the bagged lunch to eat en route to Nipawin. I'm usually such a klutz but I managed not to spill too many tomato guts on my shirt as I ate it.

Nipawin grain elevator

So back in the car, more loud tunes, and an hour’s drive north to Nipawin. The Nipawin Public Library is attached to a school. The public library had a wonderful art display. I presented in a gym here so the microphone was really appreciated. I find it much easier to read "Let's Go!" with some drama if I'm not shouting to be heard. There was a reporter in the audience and an article about my visit is here. Nancy, the librarian, and I talked afterwards about crafts/knitting and she taught me a new term: UFOs, as in unfinished objects. Love it!

Some flooding in the roadside fields

After that it was off to Prince Albert so another nearly two hours (146 km) in the car. I was very tired once I arrived. But I scoped out a grocery store for their deli counter and munchies (and it had a Starbucks inside for a nice cold iced coffee). Phew!

A blur of trees

Random Memorable Moments

• Snow geese! Oh how I wish I could’ve gotten close to the flock.
• Saw a lot of hawks perched along the roadsides throughout the day.
• The huge millennium cross appearing out of nowhere
• WIND! Sometimes requiring arm strength to keep the car straight.
• “We Serve” gas stations--whoa, remember those Ontario? No? Didn’t think so.
• Count for Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” on the Satellite Radio: 4

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This is the second instalment about my week long tour for TD Canadian Children's Book Week 2013. I toured in northern Saskatchewan. More on Book Week here. Catch up on instalment one here.

Monday May 6, 2013
Boy was I nervous. Not about the presentations themselves but about finding where I needed to be. On time. Sure enough I missed one of the turns, but I pulled a U-ey (they seem okay with U turns in SK, in contrast to here where you feel like a criminal if you sneak one in...not that I ever do, heh heh). But my minor detour meant I saw a real live magpie at the side of the road. That was cool!

Dirt roads! I love dirt roads. (Okay so it's gravel really.)

I was a total tourist as I was driving. What a fascinating landscape--so different from what I live in. I took a lot of pictures without even looking, just balancing the camera on my shoulder or the dash. I never new how the photo turned out till later.

There was still snow in the hedgerows.

Made it to my first school: South Corman Park School. They’d put a lovely silk rose, water bottle, and “Welcome Lizann” sign on the table at the front of the school library. They’d also put a sign above the water fountain announcing my coming visit so the kids could see it. Talk about making me feel welcome. And what a beautiful library space! What a great audience to start my tour! I spoke to the whole school, about 100 kids up to grade 6. They gave me a lovely gift of a Saskatchewan magnet and school pen. Thank you Joan Falk and all the kids at South Corman Park!

My visit poster & fountain

(As a footnote for the week, I wish I'd take some photos of/with kids at some or all of my visits, but I didn't. It's tricky putting photos of kids on the internet because you need parental permission. Still, although you won't see the kids here in these posts, they were there! And if you were there and want to send me some photos I can use, I'd love that.)

My first tour stop.

Then it was off to find Allan, Saskatchewan. More great scenery of course!

Flat fields!

I loved seeing red barns! I was able to get close to this one.

And then something really different appeared on the horizon. A pink mountain!! I snapped a quick photo or two but had to keep going so I wouldn’t be late.

A pink mountain!

Potash mine at Allan, Saskatchewan

I got to Allan Composite School and Arlene Pedersen had a lovely mini sandwich and salad buffet for

Sign b/c the front door was being painted.

me in the home economics classroom. She told me that I had indeed seen a potash mine and that the pink mountain was made from the tailings from the mine.

What a great group of kids here, too. This school went all the way up to and through high school. I talked to the kids from Kindergarten to grade 5. I was telling them that I get a lot of inspiration from the amazing plants and animals I see around me, and mentioned that they have remarkable things around them too. I loved that they just about died laughing at me when I confessed I’d never before that day seen an actual magpie or a potash mine. Thank you Allan kids for a conclusion to a great day!

Before I left Allan I wanted to get a shot of the great grain elevators. Here's the first photo.

And then guess what happened--I heard a train! I was so excited (I love trains). I got another shot with a train in it.

On the trek back to Saskatoon I had more time to take photos.

The other side of the pink mountain.

I'd often see ducks in these roadside ditches.

I loved the faint trail across the field.

Random Memorable Moments

• Not being able to snap a photo of the colorful sorted display of tractors, combines and parts as I drove by Combine World.
• Ducks everywhere! I kept seeing them in the temporary roadside ditch pools and sloughs, but I wasn’t able to get photos of any actual ducks.
• Feeling rather dwarfed on the road in my compact rental car because SUVs and pickup trucks are popular Saskatchewan vehicles.
• Hearing Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” about 4 times on the satellite radio. I pretty much flipped between two stations. But I like that song so it was all good.

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This is the first installment about my week long tour for TD Canadian Children's Book Week 2013. I toured in northern Saskatchewan. 

I arrived in Saskatoon!

Sunday May 5, 2013

Planes at Pearson International

I don’t love flying, but with an early morning Timmies coffee in hand I was super excited to be sitting at Pearson International waiting to leave for a part of Canada I’d never been to before. Why were all these other people travelling? Of course I eavesdropped on the conversations around me. Some ladies were travelling because of a conference. Other passengers were part of a boys and a girls’s hockey team: Team Sask. I gather they did fairly well at the tournament they were in.

The flight went well. Once in Saskatoon I wheeled my carry-on to the carousel to wait with the rest of the passengers for my week’s worth of clothes. And we all waited. And waited.

Dogs in a pickup at a Saskatoon mall

Finally the belt started moving, and hockey bag after hockey bag came out. Then some luggage. Then hockey bag after hockey bag after hockey bag... and then the carousel stopped. We waited and shuffled around. The belt started up again to audible relief. More luggage came off: not mine, not mine, not mine...and then hockey bag after hockey bag after hockey bag...and then the belt stopped. An announcement said to come to the WestJet desk if you hadn’t received your luggage. Groan.

So along with about 20 others I headed for said desk. Turns out because of all those hockey bags they had to balance the plane. Those of us unlucky travellers without our baggage were told it had been left behind in Toronto. Oh, it would be put on a later flight. Trying not to think the worst, I filled out the necessary paperwork and picked up the rental car. At least my itinerary for the tour, and all my presentation materials were with me. But I sure hoped I didn't have to survive for a week in the clothes I was wearing.

I found the hotel, yay (I'm a small town and country driver so urban traffic is a challenge), then found a mall in case I needed to buy a change of clothes. It was really hot out, and I was feeling somewhat frustrated sitting in the mall parking lot. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw some dogs in a pickup truck. That sight cheered me up. And my clothes did arrive...at midnight (which to me was 2:00am)!! But at least I got them so it was all good.

Random Memorable Moments

• The solo pigeon perched on the airplane gate at the Toronto airport surveying his domain.
• The lady in the security line ahead of me laughing, because thanks to having her shoes scanned by themselves, she discovered that her wooden heels had metal rods in them.
• My first taste of borscht! I really liked it. But then again, I brew and drink my own beet kvass.
• The constant banging of the door to the hotel parking lot which, unfortunately, happened to be across from my room. Who knew people went out to the parking lot so often.

Yummy borscht!

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My name badge from the TD Book Week kick off party.

I really must quit putting all sorts of other things ahead of blogging. I like blogging, I really do. But sometimes I obsess too much over what to say. So much so that I’m often paralyzed with indecision and then just end up saying nothing. Bad, no?

So I’m going to try to kick that and, in the next few days, blog about my awesome trip earlier this spring for Canadian Children’s Book Week 2013! I was honoured to be chosen to talk to many children in communities across northern Saskatchewan about “Sorting through Spring” as well as my other books.

Blogging preparations are underway! I promise.

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The Next Big Thing is a global blog tour, started in Australia, to showcase authors and illustrators and their current work.  I was tagged by the talented Cynthia Cotten. Thanks Cyndy! And I should also give a nod to another talented friend, Mary Cronk Farrell, because she tried to tag me earlier this year and I was too swamped to participate.

So now I'll answer some questions about my newest book, then pass the Q&A along to two others who'll pick up the tour next week.

1) What is your next big thing?
That would be my newest book Sorting through Spring.

"Sorting through Spring," by Lizann Flatt and Ashley Barron

2) Where did the idea for the book come from?
My kids would complain that doing math patterning problems seemed to have no purpose. It made me think what if...? What if you could see animals and nature making patterns and sorting all around you?

3) In what genre does your book fall?
It's a nonfiction picture book.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
Well, since there are only animals in the book, I'd hope Disney's Pixar would make the movie. I can see them having fun with the schools of smelt and the mosquitoes. Think this or this.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
If animals and nature knew numbers like you, can you imagine the sorting and patterning they'd do?

6) Who published your book?
OwlKids Books. Find them here: http://www.owlkidsbooks.com/

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
It took about a month, but before that it took a lot of time to decide the content and focus of the series. I'd say nearly a year till the four-book format was set. (Sorting through Spring is book two in the series-- Counting on Fall is the first, Sizing up Winter will be the third, and Shaping up Summer will be the fourth.)

8) What other books would you compare this book to within your genre?
It deals with some of the same ideas as Math for All Seasons. These books, in a running story format, go into deeper detail about math concepts that are in my book:  The Great Graph Contest, A Very Improbable Story.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
It sounds cliche, but Nature fascinates and inspires me all the time. Math was never my favourite subject. Put one with the other and hopefully it results in some fun with both math and nature.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
The art is gorgeous and invites you to touch the page. I think with the different spring nature phenomena and some rhythmic or rhyming language it's a less serious way to talk about math, plus you can use the book with young children as a segue into more math, language, or science.

Now I get to tag a couple other lucky people. Hope you'll drop in next Thursday, April 25th to these blogs for their next Next Big Thing:

Rachel Eugster

Peggy Collins

You won't be disappointed!

And thank you for stopping in here to help me celebrate my "Next Big Thing."

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Love this conversation snippet I overheard at the library this weekend between two 10- or 11-year-old boys as they were playing a video game at the public computers.

Boy 1: "There's nothing holding me back now!"
Boy 2: "Yeah, except your mother."
Laughter.

Kids, telling it like they see it.

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I'm pleased to be hosting Nonfiction Monday here at The Flatt Perspective. I can't wait to see what nonfiction books other Kidlitosphere bloggers have been talking about this week. I know it's going to be great. Please leave the info about your Nonfiction Monday post here on the Google form. Then check back tomorrow, Tuesday, to see the complete round-up of what's what in nonfiction for kids and teens this week.

For now, I'd like to share the terrific "Counting on Fall" Teacher's Guide pdf that OwlKids Books put together for my newest nonfiction picture book. It's free and full of activities and reproducibles for the K-2 classroom or home or library. "Counting on Fall" is about math and fall nature phenomena. What if animals and plants knew math, just like you? Would leaves fall in patterns? Would whales enter a race? Count on some math fun while thinking about those what if's and more.

Thanks for stopping by, and I'll count on seeing you tomorrow!

Okay, now we're ready for our roundup! Don't you love how those asterisks let us jump in time? Magical I tell you.

Waiting for Ice | Going Up!: Elisha Otis's Trip to the Top | Seahorses

From The Nonfiction Detectives, Louise and Cathy share that "We had the opportunity to interview Monica Kulling about her new picture book biography." Check out the interview and a review of Going Up! by Monica Kulling.

Jen at Perogies & Gyoza is also featuring Monica Culling's  Going Up!: Elisha Otis's Trip to the Top this week. She says of the book: "Great introduction to the world of invention and entrepreneurship via the invention of the elevator."

Over at Shelf-Employed, Lisa is featuring a review of the nonfiction picture book Seahorses, by Jennifer Keats Curtis.  She adds "Check out the video, too!"

Noah Webster & His Words | Barnum's Bones | Brothers at Bat

Hop on over to Supratentorial to see Alice's review of these three books. Alice says: "I am sharing three new picture book biographies: Noah Webster and His Words, Barnum’s Bones and Brothers at Bat. The subjects are different but all three books have in common that they are great short biographies for elementary school students."

Helen's Big World | Touch the Sky | A Leaf Can Be...

Amy at Hope Is the Word features Helen's Big World: The Life of Helen Keller. Amy adds "This is a fantastic new picture biography of Helen Keller by Doreen Rappaport.  It is a part of her Big Words series." Amy highly recommends it.

Jeanne's blog True Tales & A Cherry On Top features the picture book biography Touch the Sky - Alice Coachman, Olympic High Jumper. Jeanne says: "Touch the Sky is an inspiring true story about a young woman who dreamed to soar, and pursued her dream. As the book jacket says, 'In Alice Coachman's Georgia hometown, there was no field where an African-American girl could do the high jump, so she made her own crossbar with sticks and rags.'"

And don't miss Heart of a Child where Rob Reid features A Leaf Can Be.... as a great read-aloud choice. And there are a few Q&As, too, with the book's author, Laura Purdie Salas.

Animals Big and Small | Patterns Outside

Finally Roberta of Wrapped in Foil brings us two titles in the Math Every Day series. She says "These books are a great way to introduce beginning math concepts."

Bill the Boy Wonder | Snakes | Environmental Disasters

Amelia at Challenging the Bookworm features Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman. She explains, "I bought this book for my library specifically with a graphic novel fan in mind, and she didn't disappoint me. I've never known a lot about comics, although I've enjoyed the films over the years, and now I can impress someone with my new knowledge. Plus, it's a Cybils contender in the Nonfiction Picture Books category."

And you won't want to miss Sal's Fiction Addiction where Sally shares Nic Bishop Snakes. Sally says, "I love sharing the books that I am reading with others who are interested in literature for children and their adults...be they teachers, parents or extended family."

SimplyScience features the timely Environmental Disasters. Shirley describes the book: "Environmental Disasters is about several major environmental disasters, their causes, and their consequences. It discusses the efforts made to change or improve conditions so that they don't occur again."

Becoming a Ballerina | National Parks | Surf Dog Miracles

Abby of Abby the Librarian shares that "Just in time for Nutcracker Season, I have a book all about the behind-the-scenes of becoming a ballerina and starring in the show." She does indeed. She features Becoming a Ballerina.

At A Teaching Life Tara brings us National Parks: A Kid's Guide to America's Parks, Monuments and Landmarks  by Erin McHugh. Tara enthusiastically states that the book is "a wonderful book on National Parks and monuments." You'll want to head on over to see the other great nonfiction titles she's highlighted as well.

Jennifer of Jean Little Library gives us a quick overview of some new Bearport titles. Featured books include the Water Babies series, Meat-Eating Plants: Toothless Wonders from the Plant-Ology series, and, from the Dog Heroes series, the title Surf Dog Miracles.

Veterans Day | Lives of the Presidents

Janet features the title Veterans Day written by Marlene Targ Brill with illustrations by Qi Z. Wang over at All About the Books.

Keeping right up with current affairs, Mother Reader reviews Lives of the Presidents by Kathleen Krull and Kathryn Hewitt.

The Magical Life of Long Tak Sam | Home Front Girl

Over at The Biblio File, Jennie has a review of the graphic novel memoir, The Magical Life of Long Tak Sam.

And don't forget to visit Charlotte at Charlotte's Library. She notes "I have a lovely YA book this week--Home Front Girl: A Diary of Love, Literature, and Growing Up in Wartime America, the actual diary of Joan Wehlen."

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Last weekend I was lucky enough to travel to Eden Mills for the Eden Mills Writers' Festival. Ever been? If not you should. It was a gorgeous warm sunny day, which was perfect for listening to readings and talks from writers of all different genres. And what a village! Charming and friendly.

My day started out with a rather long drive, but if you've hung around this blog for awhile (just check out my Transportation Tales thread) you know I'm used to driving. Anyway, the only thing of note other than the detour right before Eden Mills, which freaked me out because I'm never sure I'll get back on my planned route and I obsess about being late, was a roadside sign just as I crested a hill. Said homemade sign was impossible not to notice:
That got my brain spinning. There's a sad story there, isn't there?

Anyway again, I strolled the street and browsed the display tables of literary events, places, publishers, and artists. I ate excellent ginger ice cream! And look at the stream and one of the concrete road bridges that runs through the village.

Creek? Stream? Idyllic however you label it.

What a bridge. They don't make them like this anymore.

I listened to as many of the readings in the children's area as I could. My turn came following Ted Staunton. Um, if you've never heard him, all you need to know is that he performs a chicken song which had us all bok-bokking and head bobbing along to his guitar and stellar singing voice. How do you say: hard act to follow???

The audience was terrific. I love that the plane flew overhead just as I got to the bushplane page in Let's Go!. Couldn't have ordered that better. And sharing Counting on Fall under the branches of huge shade tree just seemed appropriate. Of course The Bookshelf had all the festival authors' books displayed for sale. It was an honor to sign several books for people.

"Counting on Fall" on display. Yay!

Special thanks to Deb Loughead, organizer of the children's area programming, for inviting me. Loved talking with you over dinner! Janet Wilson you are so warm and welcoming and make amazing pies and artwork. Jill Bryant, it was a pleasure to sit at the signing table beside you and to get to know you. Other amazing creative people I was lucky to connect with: Teresa Toten, Helaine Becker, Susan Hughes and Lisa Dalrymple. In short: What an event!

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I'm looking forward to sharing "Counting on Fall" at some upcoming events this month.

Eden Mills Literary Festival, Eden Mills, Ontario
http://edenmillswritersfestival.ca
September 16, 2012
I'll be at the children's tent on Sunday September 16th at 3:10pm.
And there lots of other amazing authors who will be in the children's area that day too.

Word on the Street, Toronto, Ontario
http://www.thewordonthestreet.ca/wots/toronto
September 23, 2012
I'll be appearing with Ashley Barron, illustrator, as we both present our book in an interactive reading and craft activity at the Children's Activity Tent on Sunday September 23rd at 12:00pm. Then we'll be at the OwlKids booth at 1:15pm.

And both a Toronto and Muskoka book launch are in the works for dates in October. I'll have more details on those events when things are finalized.

Exciting days!

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It was a regular summer morning when, rather inconveniently, the doorbell rang. I looked down at the night shirt I was still wearing even though I’d been up for hours. No way was I answering the door in that. I looked at my daughter. She was also sporting jammies, but she could answer the door in her jammies, right? I mean she’s only 9. Apparently she disagreed.

So I ran to my room to find a sweater and sweat pants to throw on over top. I guess in the meantime my daughter took pity on me because I reached the door in time to hear retreating footsteps on the gravel and see my daughter staggering to lower a big box to the floor--a big brown box, a big brown box with the Owlkids logo on it. OMG it could only be the advance copies of Counting on Fall!!!

I didn’t bother to close the door. I started shouting incoherently and jumping up and down like I was deranged. Was it my imagination or did I also hear a van peel out of the driveway? No doubt the driver was freaked out by the realization that a crazy woman resided inside.

Big brown box in hallway complete with shoe clutter.

Anyway, I admired the box and then...I went upstairs. What!? you’re thinking, right? I just left it there? Yes, that’s exactly what I did. Am I crazy? Maybe. But I’m also the type of kid who ate the best thing on her plate last. I’d draw out a good dessert with tiny little bites. As for the box, I needed to be in the right frame of mind, the right clothing, to savour the moment of opening it.

So it was an hour later when I was dressed, when I’d gathered my family, when we had the Ceremonious Opening of the Box.

It went like this:

1. Be oh so careful with the blade of the scissors as you slice through the tape on top of the box. 
2. Gently peel back the box flaps and the white packing paper underneath. 
3. Gasp, ooh and ahh at the spectacular site of your books packed in the box, nested and cosy.
4. Open the letter from the publisher’s assistant and smile. 
5. Then finally pick up a copy of the book you have worked on for months but have never physically touched until this moment.
6. Ahh, brings a tear to the eye, no?
7. Pass around the single copy to family members so we don’t put our grimy fingerprints on more than one copy at a time.
8. Realize once again that this is the best gig in the world.

Ashley Barron, illustrator, you are a genius. Thank you OwlKids for the stellar match making and for assembling such a fantastic team to bring this book to bookstores everywhere. It’ll be officially on sale and available at/through bookstores everywhere on September 15, 2012.

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Yes, I survived. More than that actually: I loved it! (MNM2012)

Imagine 72 hours to do nothing but write as much as you like. Heaven!! You could take time out to eat and sleep if you wanted/needed to. Meals were provided and prepared by and the lovely den mother Mieke, who even did our dishes afterwards (and didn't kick me out on the first day when I spilled my coffee).

On top of it all is knowing that while you’re there writing you're raising money for the YMCA Literacy Services. This will allow you to feel fine about ignoring your family for the whole time (because you get up before they do and you come home after they’re all in bed--heh heh. Thank you, family, for being so amazing and understanding.). And thank you so much to my sponsors. I'll be sending you individual thank you letters. All together the writers this year raised an astounding $14,572.50 last I heard.!!

I admit that I was a bit worried going in. I mean, me, write a novel? I wasn’t sure there was a story of novel length proportions in me. Okay, so I’m still not sure the story is worth anything but my amusement in writing it, but who cares at this point? I went in with an initial idea, and I came out with 60 pages written and a workable outline to keep going with. Here's my 60 page milestone ribbon (and note how there are others much bigger than mine).

For someone who writes at home in the (mostly) quiet it was scary to think about writing in a crowded room. But with the help of my iPod and some playlists it worked out just fine. I was focussed when I wanted to be and distracted when I wanted to be.

Susan Blakeney

The wonderful writer to the right of me was Susan Blakeney, who taught me that physically acting out things can really help you. And she is an amazingly prolific writer in the she STARTED AND COMPLETED her novel at the marathon. Wow.

2 Comments on I Survived Muskoka Novel Marathon 2012, last added: 7/31/2012 Display Comments Cathy Olliffe-Webster said, on 7/30/2012 1:06:00 PM OH Lizann, it was SUCH a pleasure meeting you! You're so sweet and charming and funny and nice... and yes, wasn't the novel marathon the BEST time? I am still glowing thinking about it. Congrats on those 60 pages! No one knows better than me how hard-earned they were! Anyway, loved your write-up! Hope to meet up with you some day soon. Lizann Flatt said, on 7/31/2012 5:38:00 AM Aw, thanks, Cathy. Yes, it was definitely an amazing time. And yes to the meet up soon! Add a Comment More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag 17. Marathon Madness? 0 Comments | Previous | Top | Next By: Lizann Flatt, on 7/13/2012 Blog: The Flatt Perspective (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags:  Add a tag What have I gotten myself into? I must be mad. This weekend I’m participating in the Muskoka Novel Marathon. A whole 72 hours to do nothing but write. A novel. And I’ve never written one before. (I don’t think that fantasy adventure I started writing in high school should count, do you? Besides, I quit after about 2,000 words.) I’ve always had some excuse to myself for not writing a novel even though I have plenty of half baked ideas. So the fact that I’ve committed myself to devoting three days to writing a crappy novel first draft scares me. Okay, I will have to sleep in there and I have to minus the time to attend my niece’s wedding. But that still leaves me a decent two and a half days. And I’ll be in a room full of other writers all doing the same thing! Will it be intimidating or motivating to see everyone around me writing away? I guess I'll find out. But here’s the other great component to this event: we’re all raising money for the Simcoe-Muskoka YMCA’s literacy programs. All participants are asked to collect donations for the YMCA. Here is my Canada Helps donation page where online donations are accepted (if you take that as a hint or invitation I won't object) and you get an instant tax receipt. Between my paper pledges and my online donation form it looks like I’ve reached my minimum fundraising goal. That makes me happy. Now here’s hoping at a minimum I can get some ideas flowing this weekend, and keep them flowing for the whole event and beyond. That would make me very happy. And maybe, at a minimum, I would prove to myself that I'm not mad. © Lizann Flatt, www.lizannflatt.com No part of this content may be used without written permission from the author. 0 Comments on Marathon Madness? as of 1/1/1900 Add a Comment More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag 18. Me, the Museum and Medieval Times 0 Comments | Previous | Top | Next By: Lizann Flatt, on 7/11/2012 Blog: The Flatt Perspective (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags:  Add a tag Before school was out, one late June afternoon I wrote this as my Facebook status: Am in a school bus with 39 grade 4/5s in Toronto rush hour traffic and it's 30 some degrees and two plus hours home. Oh did I mention most of the boys bought swords at Medieval Times? My writing friends will understand I'm just callin it research. :) I wasn’t kidding. Getting home from the trip was no picnic. It took just over three hours--an hour longer than it should have. Here’s a shot of the traffic through the front of the bus:  But it was all worth it because I got to spend time with my youngest daughter and her friends  I love museums, so seeing a couple exhibits at the ROM was fascinating and made me realize I need to bring my kids back for a more in-depth visit I was quite serious about putting the trip down as research. I listened and observed and just absorbed the experience of being in grade four  and Medieval Times was just a lot of fun and made the kids feel like they really were at a king’s tournament. Plus it was air conditioned. As if that wouldn’t make the day rewarding enough, I had an unexpected bonus. At the ROM we took part in a special program. We donned cotton gloves so we could carefully handle actual objects from medieval times. ROM staff had grouped objects by theme at each table. My daughter’s table was full so I couldn’t sit with her, but there was a space at a table with a few boys. Turns out this table had a piece of chain mail, a knight’s spur, a rounded ceramic vessel that would have held Greek fire, and an odd tiny square piece of metal with intricate characters on it. Very cool. I picked up the tiny square and looked at it closely-- it looked like it had Arabic lettering on it. The facilitator confirmed that yes, that's exactly what it was. I was holding an early Arabic coin. Wow! Here is a photo of the square coin. It was wrapped in a protective case. The coin in its protective case. This was my unexpected bonus because I’d just received the finished copy of an educational title I worked on for Crabtree Publishing called Arts and Culture in the Early Islamic World. I'd done lots of research but never actually handled something from that era or that part of the world. This makes book number twelve for me. 0 Comments on Me, the Museum and Medieval Times as of 1/1/1900 Add a Comment More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag 19. Scene Stealing Seagulls and SCBWI 2 Comments | Previous | Top | Next By: Lizann Flatt, on 6/14/2012 Blog: The Flatt Perspective (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags:  SCBWI, Out and About with Author Hat On, Add a tag Wow, what an experience at the SCBWI Canada East Niagara Falls retreat! Tons of talent, talk, and inspiration. Here's a bit of what it was like: Keynote Quotes "Story matters most." Emma D. Dryden, drydenbks, talking about all the many technological devices and platforms there are. "Bring your props out before you need them." Kathleen Duey, talking about introducing physical elements or setting details to your reader when they're just insignificant details so you can bring them up again later when they become pivotal plot points. "Think of voice as personality; the thing that stays with you." Nancy Conescu, executive editor, Dial Books for Young Readers, telling us she needs to see this in manuscript submissions she would consider acquiring or working on further. "No more missing sock stories!" Tracey Adams, agent, Adams Literary, when asked what she does not want to see...but she did go on to say that anything can work if it works. Most Memorable Moments * Walking to dinner and coming across a bride and groom's photo shoot backdropped by the falls. But the wind was whipping the bride's hair and dress all up and around. Immediately, Kathleen Duey stepped up and suggested the bridal party, a group of mostly men standing idly by, form a windbreak by positioning themselves in front of the bridge and groom but out of the photo. They did and it effectively blocked the worst of the wind. Situation saved! * Waiting to deliver Lesley Livingston to the group tour and snapping this photo as a seagull soared right towards me. Check it out: * And downloading my photos to find some seagull snuck into my snapshot of Janis and Lesley. Scene stealer! Look at it there between their heads, bold as all get out! Seagulls aside, in summary Jackie Garlick-Pynaert did an outstanding job of gathering the talent (which also included Patti Ann Harris, art director of 2 Comments on Scene Stealing Seagulls and SCBWI, last added: 6/18/2012 Display Comments LMacL said, on 6/15/2012 11:44:00 AM Love the photos, Lizann, and thanks for sharing the quotes! Lizann Flatt said, on 6/18/2012 8:34:00 AM My pleasure, LMacL. Glad you enjoyed. Add a Comment More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag 20. Sky Circle 1 Comments | Previous | Top | Next By: Lizann Flatt, on 6/7/2012 Blog: The Flatt Perspective (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags:  Transportation tales, Add a tag I was driving home yesterday when I noticed a peculiar contrail in the sky. Check this out: It seemed weird to me that it was circular because they're usually straight. At least around here they are. Then I came across this article thanks to Twitter about an air show happening further north and that planes performing in it would be flying over: http://www.cottagecountrynow.ca/community/southmuskoka/article/1369946 Ah-hah, mystery likely solved. What did we ever do before the internet?? © Lizann Flatt, www.lizannflatt.com No part of this content may be used without written permission from the author. 1 Comments on Sky Circle, last added: 6/9/2012 Display Comments Marcia said, on 6/8/2012 10:08:00 PM You must love the sky like me. :) That, and water. All that blue, blue, blue. Calm and clean and fresh. Add a Comment More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag 21. Save a Circ Clerk's Sanity 2 Comments | Previous | Top | Next By: Lizann Flatt, on 6/1/2012 Blog: The Flatt Perspective (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags:  Life at the Library, Add a tag One common question I'm asked at the library is which of an author's books comes first...or next. You know, like if an author has a series or some related books that don't already come with "Book 1" or "2" or "Stupendously Super Series #3" stamped on the cover or spine, people want to know which one to read first...or next. And I want to help them find out. But I usually don't have a lot of time to do this because the person who wants to know is standing there at the checkout desk waiting. And there might be a lineup behind them. Yes, I can look at the book's copyright date. But sometimes an author will write a prequel, and I'd like to be able to pass that info along. The bigger problem with checking the copyright is I'd need to have all of the author's books there in front of me--which means leaving the front desk to go to the shelves or assumes the patron has brought a stackload up to the desk with them and none of the ones they want are already out on loan. Wading through holding or bib records is also a serious pain--you should see how many fields there are to scroll through for each book. Or what if a particular author has several series' out, each with quite a few books in it (eg. Wilbur Smith)? You have to both sort which series each of the books goes into and then put the book in its order within the series. Searching Amazon.com, which often states book order for physical books, gives me too many results to wade through (movie adaptation, kindle edition, audio book edition, paperback edition, original edition, hard cover edition, etc.), especially for prolific authors, even if I refine the search. How long do you want to stand in line while I figure that out? So I go for the author's website. Because they should be able to tell me pretty quickly, right? Sadly, I'm often disappointed. Please, please, please, authors. Please, under the heading of "Books," clearly identify the chronological order in which your books should be read, and please identify which books are part of the same series. Do this and circ clerks everywhere will be highly appreciative and, with sanity intact, be able to continue serving book lovers in our communities for a long time. (Oh, and while I'm at it, you get bonus points for identifying a book title that's different in another country!!) © Lizann Flatt, www.lizannflatt.com No part of this content may be used without written permission from the author. 2 Comments on Save a Circ Clerk's Sanity, last added: 6/5/2012 Display Comments Cathy Olliffe-Webster said, on 6/2/2012 4:16:00 PM Well if I ever write more than one darn book (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA) I'll be sure to list them properly on my blog!!! :) Lizann Flatt said, on 6/5/2012 9:14:00 AM Here's hoping you do, Cathy. Keep up the good work with your Muskoka Weekender column and you'll have lots of books coming out! Lizann :> Add a Comment More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag 22. Brian Henry Bestseller Workshop 3 Comments | Previous | Top | Next By: Lizann Flatt, on 5/30/2012 Blog: The Flatt Perspective (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags:  Out and About with Author Hat On, Writing Riffs, Add a tag My lovely purple workshop notes On Saturday I went to Brian Henry's How to Write a Bestseller workshop in Gravenhurst. I really enjoyed it. It was good to think at an objective or macro level about what makes a compelling story, a sympathetic hero, a realistic villain, and so on. Of course, part of the workshop involved an exercise in writing. I must be the only writer I know who dislikes doing writing exercises at workshops. I'm not sure what's with me on that. Anyway, I have to say, once I got going I really did start to enjoy it. Maybe I'm just a little bit rusty because it's been awhile since I wrote longer narrative fiction (been writing short poetic prose lately). It was truly fascinating to hear what some of the other writers had written for that exercise. As for my exercise, it sort of dovetailed with an idea I've been mulling over for a middle grade novel. My piece hinged on the content of a text message the hero was trying to conceal. I quite like that idea, but here's my problem: I have actually no clue what the content of that text message is. And I think it's kind of important. So hopefully my brain mulls that one over for awhile. The workshop was a good kicker for me to begin thinking in a longer format than I've written up to this point. It's getting me to think about what I'm going to write for, oh, July's (whisper) Muskoka Novel Marathon in which I have to work on writing a novel for a whole entire weekend--eep! Nothing like a writer setting herself up for a huge and intimidating challenge...but it's also all in the name of raising money for literacy, and that's always a good cause. © Lizann Flatt, www.lizannflatt.com No part of this content may be used without written permission from the author. 3 Comments on Brian Henry Bestseller Workshop, last added: 5/31/2012 Display Comments LMacL said, on 5/30/2012 8:17:00 PM Well, actually you know another writer who hates writing at workshops -- me! So I really admire you for going to the workshop anyway AND doing the writing exercise. Brian Henry said, on 5/31/2012 4:44:00 AM Hi, Lizann. I'm glad you were able to get into the exercise once you got going! Lizann Flatt said, on 5/31/2012 5:39:00 AM LMacL, I'm very glad to know it's not just me who feels that way. Brian, thanks for stopping in! And rest assured, it is in no way a reflection on your workshop that I resist writing exercises, it's purely my own stubborn streak or something. After it was done, I appreciated the push. The more I think about it the more I think you may have steered me towards an entry into or a focus for a loose idea I've had. Well worth the workshop price and a few initial internal grumblings from me. Thank you! :> Add a Comment More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag 23. Getting on Goodreads 2 Comments | Previous | Top | Next By: Lizann Flatt, on 5/27/2012 Blog: The Flatt Perspective (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags:  Out and About with Author Hat On, Books I Borrowed or Bought (and think you should too), Add a tag Are you on Goodreads? I am. Almost a year ago now I decided to join. I wasn't really looking for yet another online presence to look after, but I decided to join because I wanted to track the books I'd read and, maybe more importantly, to remember the ones I wanted to read. And for those reasons it's been great. I can look back and see all the books I've read since I joined and feel a sense of accomplishment. I also love being able to come across a book mention and add it to my virtual to-read pile. Then, when I get to the bottom of the book stack I have on hand, I just look at my list and pick from that. But of course sooner or later there's the whole rating and reviewing thing. So far I only use the stars to rate books because I don't really like reviewing books. I see myself as a book recommender rather than a reviewer. Plus, I feel uncomfortable about reviewing another writer's book because I have some inkling of the work that went into it. Sometimes I don't give a book a rating. Why? Sometimes it's as simple as I just don't know what to say. I may have enjoyed it for the most part but something about it bugs me. Or maybe the book I read previously was so awesome the next one in line was bound to be less in comparison and so I'm not sure I'd be giving an unbiased rating. Or sometimes I just don't know how many stars to select--I just can't decide. And for wafflers like me there doesn't seem to be a half a star option. Or did I miss it? I do enjoy seeing what my friends are reading. I've added several to-reads from their selections. And being able to have an author profile there is pretty cool, too. It's another place to appear with your author hat on while never leaving home. All in all I'm glad I'm there. If you're there too, please let me know. I'd love to connect over books with you. © Lizann Flatt, www.lizannflatt.com No part of this content may be used without written permission from the author. 2 Comments on Getting on Goodreads, last added: 5/30/2012 Display Comments Marcia said, on 5/30/2012 8:21:00 AM I've joined, but so far don't really do anything there. I do like the idea of keeping track of things I'd like to read, though. And I've heard from some agents that getting on there is becoming more important. I agree that I'm a book recommender rather than a reviewer, and as a writer I don't give negative reviews in public. I've heard others say they wish there were partial stars, so I guess right now there aren't. Lizann Flatt said, on 5/30/2012 10:35:00 AM Glad to know it's just not me missing the partial star option. I didn't know being on it is being seen as becoming more important. Thanks for passing that along. I'll look you up over there, Marcia. Thanks for being here. :> Add a Comment More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag 24. Taking (a photo of) Trilliums 3 Comments | Previous | Top | Next By: Lizann Flatt, on 5/25/2012 Blog: The Flatt Perspective (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags:  Nature noted, Add a tag Last week I was driving to a writer's critique group meeting when I nearly drove off the road from gawking at the sight of hundreds of trilliums carpeting the forest floor. I've seen trilliums for many a spring over the years (hey, I even blogged a poem about one a few years ago) but I've never myself seen that many together. So I pulled over and snapped a few photos. It was dusk and I just had my phone so they're not the best photos, but it was a nice moment made even better because no one in the neighbourhood came out to call me bonkers. I got back into my car and carried on. I was pleased that I'd taken the time to...well, take a photo of the trilliums (no roses out to smell yet) even though I was a bit late for my meeting. And at the meeting, Caroline helped me to sort out what I might tackle writing next. If I'm brave enough to take it up, I'll let you know. © Lizann Flatt, www.lizannflatt.com No part of this content may be used without written permission from the author. 3 Comments on Taking (a photo of) Trilliums, last added: 5/29/2012 Display Comments Marcia said, on 5/26/2012 2:45:00 PM Oh, that's gorgeous! LMacL said, on 5/29/2012 5:36:00 AM Beautiful photos, Lizann, including the new one of you! Lizann Flatt said, on 5/29/2012 10:15:00 AM Thanks, Marcia and LMacL. Appreciate you stopping in to leave your impressions. Add a Comment More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag 25. Spying on my Illustrator 0 Comments | Previous | Top | By: Lizann Flatt, on 5/17/2012 Blog: The Flatt Perspective (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags:  Writing Riffs, Add a tag I have to confess that I've been peeking at some of Ashley Barron's illustration works-in-progress for our new nonfiction picture book series which begins this fall with OwlKids. I can do this because Ashley keeps a blog, and sometimes she blogs about her work ... and sometimes the work looks a bit familiar. But I respect the industry norm that I'm not to comment on the art to the illustrator. I wait until my editor sends me the actual roughs if they want my comments. And, seeing as it's non-fiction, they do let me see the roughs. If I have comments I use the proper channel. Still, I can't resist popping by her blog once in awhile. If she's sharing something I think it's okay to leave a positive comment, too, occasionally. And it's not like she's trying to avoid me since she did like my Facebook Page. These days it's so easy to look up someone your publisher partners you with for a book project. We all do it, don't we? Um, well, don't we? What do you think? Should I avoid looking? Look but don't comment? Wait until the whole project is done and then interact? Am I making too much of this (non)issue? It's okay, you can tell me. © Lizann Flatt, www.lizannflatt.com No part of this content may be used without written permission from the author. 0 Comments on Spying on my Illustrator as of 5/17/2012 7:19:00 AM Add a Comment More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag View Next 25 Posts © 2017 Jacketflap.com                         About Us   FAQ   Advertise on JacketFlap   About our Widgets program for Publishers   Privacy   Terms