I love my job. I can't think of anything I'd rather do, BUT ...

read more

It's getting exciting!

read more

This one is short.

In my search for a photo for my publishers, I tried a few -- colour, black and white, head shot, more body (not one of my favourites) etc. I finally decided on this one, but unfortunately it was only 72 dpi, and the publisher needed at least 300 dpi. I know this is the result of the photographer sending me manageable files via email, but the end result is that I can't use the one I would like. I also can't use the one that looks like Popeye or the others that are equally unflattering, but nevertheless, the photo I would like to use is not accessible.

Rats!

Here's a first ... two blogs on the same day! 

For the last few days I have been trying to wade through the 'To-Do' things piling up on my desk. Some are major; some less pressing, but the longer I leave them, the more guilty I feel regardless of their importance. I have made a dent, but as more things pour in, the pile remains as high as ever. Eventually, I know I shall just give some of it the old heave-ho and cut my losses. The guilt will eventually subside.

Enter self-serving rationalization. 

read more

... strange bedfellows, wouldn't you say?

And yet that is what I am currently feeling. I am ecstatic (Faithful blog readers, I trust you note this is an 'E' word) that Annick Press wants me to write another book for them. However, the topic has me in a bit of a panic.

Pre-Colonial Africa.

read more

read more

Yeah -- like I need another project. (Just in case you're wondering, that was the negative, I-don't-need-any-more-work part of me being snide.) And it's true, I don't need any more work. I already have a ton of projects on the go or lined up waiting to take off. But that doesn't stop me from adding another one to the list.

read more

Okay. Here's the deal. I am presentable -- not gorgeous, even in my youth -- but presentable. Even so, I don't photograph particularly well. As I get older, it gets to be even more problematic. I'm rounder and my chops are similar to Charlie MacArthy's. No bells ringing? Clearly, you're too young -- and I'm very jealous.

The thing is that none of this would even matter, if I didn't have to provide a photograph to my publishers for promotional purposes. But, unfortunately, I do.

read more

A recent discussion on the CWILL (Children's Writers and Illustrators) listserv has sparked my creative fires. The topic is book trailers, the latest means of promoting books. Like movie trailers, they use images, sound effects, language, and music to catch viewers' attention and, hopefully, inspire them to buy the book. Writers post these trailers on their websites, YouTube, and anywhere else on the Internet they can.

read more

For over a month now, I've been avoiding a couple of little jobs indirectly related to writing. Firstly, there's the stapled mass of papers sitting on my desktop that I consciously pretend I can't see. Then there's the email in my inbox that's been there so long I doubt it would disappear even if Ideleted it. These are requests from my publishers for an author profile and photograph. So, actually it's only one job; it's just that I have to do it twice.

So what's the big deal? Write a little bio, add a cute anecdote or two, chuck in a photo, and I'm done.

Right?

Wrong.

read more

Cool!

I've had the advance, and I've even received some royalties, but I don't have a copy of the book, and until just a few minutes ago, I didn't even know if the German publisher had changed the cover of The Trouble with Liberty. Well, as you can see, it is the same as the original -- except for the title. What I want to know is how four words could be reduced to one. Something tells me the title is not a literal translation. Hmmm ...

read more

... is that it can get in the way of being a reader.

Before I became a professional writer, I was a voracious reader. Once I got my nose into a novel, I was hard-pressed to put it down. I gobbled it up and it gobbled me. I couldn't read fast enough and the books couldn't be fat enough. I hated to see the pages dwindling away. I was so involved with the story that I didn't want it to end.

read more

Now that the Egypt revisions are back in the publisher's hands and Book II of the Zach & Zoe series is on the editor's "To Be Read" pile, I must push on with the rewrite of Return to Bone Tree Hill. With all three books scheduled for Spring/2009 releases, it's a constant juggling act.

read more

The Egyptologist has finally finished vetting my book on ancient Egypt, and when the editor said he was couriering the manuscript to me to make the changes a.s.a.p., I have to admit I was a bit nervous. I had no idea what to expect. I had visions of LIAR, LIAR, LIAR!!! scrawled across the whole thing in bright red ink. Not that I knowingly lied, but I'm not generally a writer of non-fiction, and I suspected that my natural bent to make stuff up might have pushed its way into the manuscript without me realizing it.

read more

I'm not a good traveller. I hate being trapped in a cramped airplane seat for even an hour. I hate living out of a suitcase and donning wrinkled clothes that I know I ironed before I left home. I hate forgetting my hair dryer or a pair of earrings. I hate being without a vehicle. I'm not crazy about hotel rooms either -- they are boring, and unless I'm sightseeing, there is often nothing to do. Then, of course, there are passports, vaccinations -- oh, yes, and the cost of travelling. I don't even want to think about that.

read more

Okay, I know it's been forever since I wrote in my blog (or anywhere else for that matter), but I'm officially finished procrastinating, holidaying, slacking-off, playing hooky, etc., and I'm back at the helm, so look for more regular blog entries from me in the future.

For starters, here's a collage of photos from my Zach & Zoe and the Bank Robber book launch. It was great fun, and as a result of all the wonderful people who bought copies of the book, the novel is currently on Coho Books bestsellers list.

read more

Multi-tasking -- that is one of the 'IN' words of our time. Can you simultaneously walk and talk? Then you are multi-tasking. Watch television, file your nails, and drink a cup of tea? Multi-tasking. Run the dishwasher, heat a muffin in the microwave, play a CD, and brew a pot of coffee. Now you're really multi-tasking.

Everyone multi-tasks. Even me -- except I do it one task at a time.

Take today, for instance. I turned on the computer to find a raft of emails in my in-box. I knew I had to deal with them, but first I had to do my daily jigsaw. There is no way I can think about working until I get that puzzle out of the way. My husband delivered my coffee, so I didn't even have to worry about that.

read more

Today I abandoned my computer and spent the day roaming the quiet country roads of Quadra Island in search of artists' studios. It wasn't that difficult a task, partly because a friend acted as navigator and partly because this was an organized tour, so the studios were clearly marked with signs, AND we had a map. The studios were open to the public from 10 until 4 -- which we had thought would be plenty of time -- but even with six hours, we still didn't get to a Native carver, a glass blower, a plaster sculptor, a guitar maker, a photographer, and a couple of painters. Next year, for sure.

read more

... a rose by any other name would smell as sweet ...

Well, I'm over halfway through the first draft of the second book in the Zach and Zoe series, and I'm quite pleased with the way the story is unfolding. It's not actually presenting itself in strict accordance with the outline, but that happens -- in fact, it's a good thing when that happens, because it means I'm allowing the story to move forward naturally instead of pushing it.

read more

No, they're not. I lied. Sorry. I couldn't help myself. It's just that I'm as excited as Steve Martin in whatever movie that was where he jumps around, ecstatic ('E' word) that the new phone books have arrived. The new books are indeed here, but they aren't phone books -- not a single yellow page in the works. I'm talking about Zach & Zoe and the Bank Robber. Yay! It's here at last.

This is my twelfth published book, but holding that first copy in my hand never gets old. It feels great -- better than great -- it's magic. 

At my River Writers gathering the other night, we were extolling the musical sound of 'E' words. Okay, I was doing the extolling; the rest of the group was sitting back, laughing at me. What can I say? I am drawn to words beginning with 'E' -- egregious, epistle, eulogy, emote, ephemeral, enclave, enigmatic, ensconce, etcetera.

read more

read more

The second annual Spring Book Hatching is coming up on June 14th at the Vancouver Public Library. It's a great opportunity to meet about thirty of B.C.'s authors and illustrators of children's books. Blackberry Books will be on hand with copies of all the titles being hatched, so buy your favourites and get them autographed right there. 

read more

... and I ain't got nobody.

read more

read more