June 2006 Archives

I'm just back from a business trip to Waterton Park. I was given a very interesting assignment as part of a conference for CEPA, communications staff for teachers associations across Canada. I had to take a bunch of writing assignments from the participants (which they wrote the day before) and adapt them into a larger story. With the help of Yuet, a wonderful graphic designer, I put together a 20 minute presentation along with slides. I have to admit this was a very fun exercise, but very challenging. It reminded me of a playwriting exercise where writers had to incorporate random words as they wrote their scripts; except, in this case, the story had to make sense.

Beyond the work, I had a great time in Waterton (my first trip). The mountains were spectacular and there is a weird hotel on the lake which stands out like a sore thumb. And boy, does the fluff from poplar trees fly around in Waterton. I'd love a chance to go back just to sightsee. Maybe next summer.

Yesterday, I did a tech rehearsal for my one-hour presentation at the Smithsonian (July 7). The whole session will be broadcast via video conferencing and will involve students from the Pembina Hills District and hopefully some Washington students as well. I'm pretty excited to make the presentation, but I would have preferred to be in Washington in person, but this video stuff is the next best thing. I like working with video conferencing and I hope to do more. It sure does save me travel time and costs.

I have my notes and outline finished for the picture book. I've never written a picture book before, but I'm going to treat it like a short play. The ones I've been reading are very active and have a nice simple thruline. I have to remember that I only have about 1,000 words, so I have to use them wisely. Wish me luck.

Last night, despite the exciting game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals, a few people did come out to the reading of Nearly Normal. The reading was awesome. My actor, Jared, turned into an amazing performance and made the script sound better than it was. I know that I have a lot work to do to the script, and I suspect that I don't have a kids' play, but an adult play. I think I'm going to dig deeper in the character of Norman and explore issues of faith versus science. I also need to figure out a way to make the play seem less like storytelling and more dramatic. Right now, most of the action happens in the past. Lots of work, but I'm charged to revisit the script.

Spent yesterday afternoon at Patricia Heights Elementary School talking to the grades 4 - 6 students. I interrupted a music lesson, and I hope the teacher wasn't too put out. The kids rocked. I was pretty impressed at how focussed they were for the afternoon. Normally, the energy after lunch is pretty chaotic, but this bunch were pretty keen to listen. I wish I had time to answer questions, but I promised my session was only going to take up a half and hour and I didn't want to out stay my welcome. Thanks to the teachers at Patricia Heights for letting me invade your school for a little bit, and thanks to the students for being such a great audience.

Wow! The students at Holy Cross School were awesome. I spoke to the students in grades 4 - 6, and they were pretty cool. This was a French immersion school, so I think they were pretty excited when I talked about the school in the book. And they probably laughed at my bad pronunciation of "Anglais." Anyway, the kids were awesome and I had a wonderful time taking their questions about The Mystery of the Frozen Brains. I hope to see some of them at my WEM Chapters book signing tomorrow (June 17) between 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm.

The rehearsals for my short play are going well. The actors are going all out with their monkey characters and they're hilarious. I can't wait to see the staged reading this weekend. Oh, and I found out that the rehearsal for Nearly Normal is on Saturday, and we're doing the reading on Saturday evening. I don't know how many people will come out to the reading considering that's the same night as game 6 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Oh well, the reality of doing shows is that you're in direct competition with everything else that happens the same night. If no one shows up, I'd still like to hear the play read just so a get a sense of the flow and figure out what I need to do to the script next.

Yesterday, I spent the day at Darwell School which is a little west of Wabamum. The school was small, but the students were enthusiastic. I started with the junior high students and they were pretty good. The elementary kids were awesome. They had tons of questions and they were very cool about the book and very sympathetic about Buddy and Max. I hope the students pick up my books this summer and give them a read.

This is my last week of school visits for the year. I have readings at Darwell School, Holy Cross, Patricia Heights, and I have a book fair at Meyonohk School. While I'm sad to stop talking to students, I'm excited about the time I'll have to work on my picture book and my third book in the series. I also have an idea for a book for older kids that's based on my grandmother's story. I can't say much about it now, but it's definitely not going to be a comedy. It'll be a 180 degrees from my previous work. I hope that I'll have time to get a draft together by the end of the year. Okay, I'm off to St. Albert for a book signing.

The school year is winding down and so are my author visits. Yesterday, I paid a visit to two schools in St. Albert. The students at both Leo Nickerson and Muriel Martin were awesome. Both readings were set in the gym, and I'm really starting to enjoy talking to large crowds. Before, I was very nervous about being in a gym, but now I'm totally loving it. A microphone helps. Anyway, I have to report one of the best questions I've heard in a long time. One student asked what my biggest obstacle in writing was. That was a very cool question. My answer was my mom (she didn't want me to become a writer). Anyway, I had a blast at both schools, and I hope the students come out to see me at the St. Albert Chapters Sunday, June 11 at 1:00 pm.

I paid a visit to Callingwood and Aldergrove Schools today to promote my book signing at WEM Coles this Saturday, June 10 at 1:00 pm. The students at both schools were wonderful. As usual, everyone loves the story about Max and Buddy. In fact, I'm getting more questions about my cats than about my books. Hmm, maybe that means I had better get cracking on writing my picture book about the two cats. Anyway, I had a blast with the students at Callingwood, who were very keen listeners and asked some cool questions. The students at Aldergrove were full of energy and were fun to talk to in a gym setting.

I hope the students from both schools can come out to my book signing. It's at WEM Coles this Saturday, and I'll be there from 1:00 pm until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. See you all there.

I was the emcee at the media launch of the Young Alberta Books Society's Chrysalis Festival Launch. About to go into its 24th year, the Festival reaches over 50,000 students across the province. Authors, storytellers and illustrators tour Alberta to share their passion for literature with students in the hopes of encouraging literacy. We were treated to presentations by illustrator Lorna Bennett and authors Don Meredith, Anita Horrocks and Lanny Boutin. Everyone was great! I'd be keen to see anyone of them in my school or library. I was also pleased to see that Denis Ducharme, the new Minister of Community Development made the time to attend the launch. I'm hoping that he'll see the value in what YABS does and help us increase our funding. The event was a smash success, and I hope it triggers some more bookings for our festival.

St. Mary School was the lucky winner of the writing workshop contest that was held at Greenwoods' Bookshoppe. I paid a visit to the school yesterday and worked with the grade four students. Wow, these guys were full of energy and great ideas. I could barely keep up with all their suggestions. I was very impressed with the writing of some of the students. I hope they keep up the writing.

On another note, St. Mary School was awesome. Books were displayed everywhere from the open space library to all the hallways. It was wonderful to be surrounded by books.

My thanks to the students for their great work!

I just finished reading Louis Sachar's new book, Small Steps. This one follows the adventures of Armpit and X-Ray from the camp. I have to say I missed Stanley a bit, but I still loved the story. Louis Sachar has a great way of making you laugh. The characters are real, and the story doesn't wrap up in a neat little bow, which I think is great. I had a blast reading this book and I hope he writes more about these characters. There's some violence in the book which may be unsettling for younger readers, but I enjoyed the characters and humour a lot.

What an awesome day of readings. I started at Cappy Smart Elementary and talked to the grades 4 - 6 students in the gym. They were pretty keen listeners, and they had some pretty cool questions. Afterward, I did an interview for the Wired with Words website. The interview should be on the site in the next few months. Watch for it.

Then I headed to Bearspaw School and chatted with members of the newly-minted book club and had some very interesting talks about the decisions I made in the first book. It was pretty cool to talk about the book in further detail with kids who had already read the entire story.

The day ended with an awesome presentation at Rideau Park School. I was in the gym and the kids were already keen on both books after having read the first chapters of both on my web site. I was a little distracted by the older students who were going in and out of the gym for another class, but my audience seemed to be with me the entire time.

In general, I was pretty blown away by all the schools I visited. The students really responded to my stories, and everywhere I went I heard great questions. Now I just have to find some time and get working on my next book.

The second half of the day went much better for directions. I showed up at Chief Justice Milvain School an hour early and then headed off for lunch. I just wanted to make sure I had the right place.

I did the presentation in the gym, and the students were pretty quiet and attentive. I was pretty impressed at how calm they were, especially because the reading was right after lunch. I think it had something to do with the school's music appreciation (a few minutes of classical musical to settle everyone down). I got lots of good questions. Interestingly, this time around everyone was very interested in finding out more about Trina Brewster. I thought there were some very cool questions.

After the reading, I headed to the CBC Studio to do an interview with Daybreak's Terri Campbell. The piece will air this Saturday. If you have a chance, tune in between 7:30 and 9:00 am. Okay, I'm off to walk around the funky part of town (17th Avenue and 4th Street).

I'm a long break between readings and was able to hit an internet cafe. Calgary has crazy directions. I had an interview on the Global morning station, but I ended up in the wrong quadrant. One panicked phone call and near speeding ticket later, I made it to the studio just in time to sit down with Angela Kokott, the great host who walked me through the interview. I made a couple of people laugh in the studio, and that's always a good sign.

Then I raced over to Dr. E.W. Coffin School and spent the morning with the grade 4 - 6 students. They were awesome. Some of them had already started reading The Mystery of the Frozen Brains. I hope they enjoy the rest of the book, and I hope they can come out to my book signing at McNally Robinson.

Off to the next school.