check out the talents of grade five student Magritte, who chose Out of Season for her book cover and poster project. Amazing! Magritte out of season posterOut of Season book jacket trim
Posted in Uncategorized
Out of Season arrived in the mail today. Do writers ever get used to that? Having a postie knock on the door and hand them a pile of new books? I hope not, because I love the thrill. This short, high-interest novel for middle school readers is all about sea otters, poachers and brave kids. It’s a wild ride. Hope you enjoy kayaking.
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I love living in a village. Have I said that before? It’s an addiction, actually. We’ve tried to move away, but it never happens, Cook Street Village has its hooks into us. Take today, for example. When I came home this evening, my son was waiting for me. He wanted to know if we could go into the village so he could get some food that he could cook for dinner. What mother in her right mind would say no to that? So we walked to the butcher and bought some meat, then down to the specialty food store for tomato sauce, then across the street to the baker for some bread. Sure, we could have gone to the grocery store and got it all there, but at the grocery store no one would have greeted us by name or given us samples to try, or asked how we liked the stuff we bought the other day.
My son and I agreed we’d watch a DVD tonight, so we crossed back across the street and ran into the video store. That took a long time, because we chatted with friends also looking for DVDs, then went to the till for a recommendation, then compared a couple of titles to see which we’d prefer.
It was later than we planned by the time we got home, but so what? It’s Friday night, we’ve got a good meal planned and a movie to watch. It’s all so commonplace and simple, I know, but it brings me joy.
How great it is to enjoy your own writing. Reading a passage and saying to yourself, hey that captures the idea well, I can feel the movement of the water under the surf board, the sting of salt water in their eyes. I can’t say this happens too often to me, so I’m delighted that it’s happening now.
I’m preparing a newly completed manuscript to send to an editor. I say completed, but you writers out there know that completed is a relative term when it comes to writing, but I’ve promised myself this is the last time I’m reading this manuscript. Like many writers I know, I could tinker forever. It’s not perfect, but it’s never going to be, and hey, I’m enjoying it, so it must be okay. Mustn’t it?
Posted in About Writing, Being An Author
After a long term teaching, I’m back to writing. Yahoo. I’m in that wonderful stage of editing where I’m fine tuning a project, trying to convince myself I’m ready to let go of it, to let it be seen by other eyes, to call it finished. Do writers ever believe their work is finished? I’ve promised myself only to read this manuscript one more time, then to call it done, otherwise I’ll tinker with it forever. So happy to be back at it!
Posted in About Writing, Being An Author
10 useful things I learned when doing research for my next book.
1. Nesting pythons don’t eat. So, if you run across a nesting python, don’t fret. How will you know if it’s nesting? The eggs are the giveaway.
2. Lots of Ghanians are named after the day of the week. Adio is born on a Monday, Abena is born on a Tuesday, Akua is born on a Wednesday, etc. And, by the way, Kofi is born on a Friday, so now we know something more about the ex Secretary General of the United Nations don’t we?
3. Jerry Rawlings was 32 the first time he took over the leadership of Ghana. And I thought I was doing well having a career by 45.
4. Ghana has 9 government sponsored languages. Yes, you read that right: 9. Canada, get over yourself.
5. John Travolta was hot (that means cool) in 1979. But he was cool (that means hot) too.
6. The Sony walkman was released in June 1979. OMG I feel old.
7. YMCA sued the Village People for libel because of their song of the same name. Sid Vicious, a former member of the Sex Pistols, died due to a heroin overdose during the trial for murdering his girlfriend. What is the useful thing I learned? Entertainment was just as crazy then as it is now.
8. The Eagles, Pink Floyd and the Police were big. Need I say more?
9. In 1978 Argentina won the World Cup. Yep, important and useful information.
10. Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister of Great Britain in1979. Okay, I should have known that, but hey, I was only 12 at the time.
I just finished reading a fantastic book called Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta. I loved this book, and it got me thinking about what makes a book at YA book. Is it that the character is young? That can’t be, because there are lots of examples of books with young protagonists. Is it that the themes are related to young people? But the themes in this book are dealing with loss, grief, love, finding oneself… all the things any great book is about. So what is it then that makes this a YA book? Or is that category not real? Maybe there are no barriers between what youth and adults read. After all, I’m not a young woman, and I read books lablled YA.
Posted in About Writing
Tagged authors, books, creator, Fun, kids lit, reading, writing, young adult
Welcome to summer. I’m working hard on my new book, and trying not to spend too much extra time on the computer, so I hope you have a great summer, and I’ll be back in the fall.
Posted in Being An Author, Uncategorized
Time to move on to the next book. It’s strange to leave one world behind and sink into another, but then that’s the joy of being a writer. I’ll let you know how this one goes.
Storm Tide just got it’s first bad review. I won’t go into detail, since I’m not into self flagellation, but let’s just say this reader won’t be picking up my next book in a hurry.
So what’s a gal to do? How does one respond to such a thing? I mean I don’t have to respond to him actually, he’s somewhere in Florida, thank goodness, a whole continent away, but I mean in my heart, how am I to respond?
My first reaction was to give him the finger (figuratively, of course), but now I’m not sure where to go from there. Maybe he has something valuable to say. Maybe there’s something in his dislike for the book that can teach me something. Hmmm… maybe I’m not ready to move on to that reaction yet. Give me a day or two of sticking him the finger.
I guess it was inevitable that someone wouldn’t like my book. Maybe many people won’t, but that’s not going to stop me is it? Surely not. Maybe I’ll just ignore it, turn that page and move on to the next project (with a quick review of positive reviews to bolster me first). And while I’m at it I’ll practice the art of being zen about bad book reviews. Ommmmmmm…..