Monday 27 June 2011

On vacation

In B.C. With my daughter and family. We are just now deciding which beach to go to. Yes. Which beach. Ah, B.C.

Back with an interview and feature with especially for Canada Day on Canada Day!

See you then. Off to the beach..es!

Sunday 26 June 2011

Giveaway Winners Waiting

I am away next week and then back on the Thursday. Saturday I will drive in to a Fed Ex and use them. I have all the signed books waiting to go. It is unlikely there will be a return to work order for Canada Post. Sorry for the so long wait, I don't know why I didn't think of using Fed Ex or UPS first. Hopeful for an end to the strike, maybe?

Happy reading, writing and whatever you have planned this weekend!

Wednesday 22 June 2011

Oh MG YA Canada!-Cheryl Rainfield and a giveaway of SCARS.


Today I welcome author Cheryl Rainfield to the blog and my feature Oh MG YA Canada. Cheryl is the author of SCARS, yet another one sitting read for me. She created a character who will always stay with me and a storyline that was captivating from the beginning. More about SCARS from Good Reads:
Kendra, fifteen, hasn't felt safe since she began to recall devastating memories of childhood sexual abuse, especially because she still can't remember the most important detail-- her abuser's identity. Frightened, Kendra believes someone is always watching and following her, leaving menacing messages only she understands. If she lets her guard down even for a minute, it could cost Kendra her life. To relieve the pressure, Kendra cuts; aside from her brilliantly expressive artwork, it's her only way of coping. Since her own mother is too self-absorbed to hear her cries for help, Kendra finds support in others instead: from her therapist and her art teacher, from Sandy, the close family friend who encourages her artwork, and from Meghan, the classmate who's becoming a friend and maybe more. But the truth about Kendra's abuse is just waiting to explode, with startling unforeseen consequences. 
When I finished reading SCARS, I wanted to start it again. Even though the subject matter is difficult (rape, self harm, sexual abuse) the main character, Kendra, is so fierce, so strong and yet so in need of people to just care (and she finds that with a family friend, a new girl friend and a therapist) that the thread of hope that ties the entire book together practically shines. It’s a gentle shine, if that makes sense. The author does _not_ shy away from making sure you understand Kendra’s pain and her need to cut herself. She doesn’t shy away from showing you Kendra’s scars, inside and out. The writing is solid, lyrical at times in the way Kendra shares her story. This is a book I would highly recommend to teens, especially those who are reading Ellen Hopkins and Gail Giles. SCARS would make a great pairing with any of their books. 


Now, on to the interview!

This is a story that is very close to you with MC’s experience with sexual abuse (that is your arm on the cover). How did you work through the difficult times when it came to writing this story, sharing it out loud.
Writing SCARS was sometimes painful, but it was pain I was still living. For me, writing is a way to have a voice, and a way of reaching out to others, so it was often a positive thing. And I am used to writing through pain; it can be a therapeutic process. What was more painful for me was putting in bits of happiness, since I didn’t know real happiness for years and not for most of the time I wrote SCARS.

The other really painful thing was trying to get SCARS published. It took me more than ten years (where I revised SCARS more than 30 times), and in the last few years of getting personalized rejection letters and editors telling me my work was good, I felt despairing and sometimes hopeless, afraid I would never be published. Getting my work published was part of my dream. I am a writer; I know it deep down, and have always known it. Once SCARS was published, it was an incredibly healing experience. I was being heard instead of silenced, and I was reaching people, helping them know they weren’t alone and encouraging healing on a much wider scale than I’d been able to before. I felt joy! 

Reaching out to others is very important to you and not just with your book. I see at the back there is an extensive list of groups that are available to those going through similar experiences. Are there any other places you’d like to share now or opportunities for people to help those in need that have developed, or you’ve become aware of since the book was published?

There are a few other places I’ve since learned about that weren’t listed in the resources.
To Write Love On Her Arms, http://www.twloha.com/ a project that works to encourage hope and help people dealing with self-harm, depression, suicide, 

It Gets Better Project, http://www.itgetsbetter.org/ , a wonderful video project reaching out to lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer youth who were bullied or thinking of suicide, letting them know they’re not alone and it does get better. (I did a video for this project which you can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_XIpkisWxo )

Favourite reads lately. Have a couple you’d like to share? At the library I’ve got kids 8-12 in my book club and recently I have some 12 and ups (about four) who are starting to come.

Some of my favorite relatively recent reads--they’re all YA--are Luna by Julie Anne Peters, Jumpstart the World by Catherine Ryan Hyde, Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A. S. King. Also anything by Ellen Hopkins, Nancy Werlin, Gail GIles, and Lois Duncan. And for middle grade readers, I love Andrew Clements’ work.

Many of my book club kids are writers, as well. Could you share with us (and them) how you organize your writing time, plus any advice for them?

I try to write as much as I can, but I also have to spend a lot of time doing book promotion now. I’m not sure I organize my writing time--I’m not very organized! I just try to get everything done, and work hard at it.

Some writing advice:

-your first draft is only a draft. If you want to make the writing really powerful, something that will touch other people, it helps to revise it, often multiple times. 

-it also helps to get feedback from others about your writing. Listen to what people say, and if more than a few people say the same thing about your piece, then it probably needs to change.

-read your work aloud; you will catch so much that you would otherwise miss. You’ll hear the way the words flow, what is working and what isn’t. When you stumble aloud, there’s usually something that needs to be changed there.

-read a LOT. Books will feed your creativity (and your soul), and they’ll help you become a better writer.

-if you want to write, then write. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t. 

I’ve started asking some of my guests where they write best. At home? At the coffee shop? Sitting up in bed? What about you? Do you have some favourite spots?

I write best at home on my couch with my little dog beside me. I like quiet. But I’ve also found that I can write and edit on the subway, especially for long trips. I can get a lot done that way. I do all my writing and editing by hand--I may be one of the few writers who still does that--and then later I transcribe it into my computer. I’ve found that for me, writing flows better, is deeper, more connected, and more powerful when I write by hand than when I write directly onto the keyboard. Writing by hand, for me, feels more natural and intuitive....

Thank you so much, Deb, for your wonderful review of SCARS and for your thoughtful questions.


You're welcom, Cheryl. To win a copy of SCARS, all you need to do is comment. Contest is open to Canada and U.S. Until this Saturday @ Midnight (MST).

Don't forget to watch for Cheryl's next book: 




Interview Wednesday-Rounding It Up!

Welcome everyone! Today is Interview Wednesday the Braidchild of Tina Nicols Currey.


Please leave the links to your interviews in the comments and let's get reading and spreading the word!

First up to check out, of course, is Tina's interview with Sherry Shahan.

My interview is with Cheryl Rainfield and includes a giveaway.

Uma Krishnaswami - Interview with Trent Reedy, author of Words in the Dust, at Writing With a Broken Tusk 

Monday 20 June 2011

Giveaway Winners!

Have a few giveaway winners to announce, but first thanks to all who stopped by to read and comment. I love doing this and it is just all around great when you stop by.

First up....LIZANN FLATT of The Flatt Perspective won ILLEGALLY BLONDE by Nelsa Roberto. Nelsa's interview is here. Lizann, Nelsa will be mailing you a signed copy so if you email me snail addy, I will forward it to her.

Second up...Melissa from One Librarian's Book Reviews won her choice of a Sarah Rees Brennan. She picked book three. Melissa, email with your snail addy and I will get the book in the mail (well, Book Depository will!).

And third up....Michael of Middle Grade Mafioso  wins The Last Loon by Rebecca Upjohn.  Check out Rebecca's interview here. Michael, email addy and I will get book out to you!

Congrats you three and thanks for taking part.

Happy reading to everyone this week. Now, time to go finish the make-up, dry the hair...again, working on not scaring patrons away from library, we want them to come in!

And--postal strike slowed down books I am sending myself, so have if you have not received your book yet, please hang tight and hopefully not too much longer (I missed the window of opportunity to actually mail packages, sorry about that).

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday-Mick Harte Was Here by Barbara Park

A couple of weeks ago our library had a book sale. One of the books in the sale was MICK HARTE WAS HERE by Barbara Park. I grabbed it immediately. It was the old cover, not the one you see to the left. It was the one on the right. Memories of many a book talk during library presentations came flooding back. It's been many years since I've shared this book. I will start doing so again. It is one of the post powerfully sad books, I've ever shared with kids. Also one of the funniest. The balance that Park creates between the two is flawless and the story is told from the point of few of Mick Harte's sister Phoebe. Mick was killed in a bike accident and it's up to her to share about him, she's decided. She needs you to know how funny, annoying and amazing she was. And as she tells the story of her family before Mick's death you find yourself roaring with laughter (the kind of scenes you love to read aloud). The next moment you are crying. Phoebe is also showing and telling us the pain of her family dealing with Mick's death. Overall it is a celebration of the love of power and family. Very sad--but at the same time uplifting.
That's it for my Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendation. Happy reading and don't forget to check out MMGM Mom Shannon Whitney Messenger to see what's she's got going for today and also take a wander over to the following blogs:

If I have missed anyone in the above list, please let me know. Enjoy your day!

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Oh MG & YA Canada, Interview and Giveaway Nelsa Roberto


I interviewed Nelsa Roberto after reading her book Illegally Blonde for Oh (MG &YA) Canada . Her book is now a highly recommend from me for those who love Sarah Dessen, Sarah Ockler and those who recently read and enjoyed Janet Gurtler's I'm Not Her. A strong female character, contemporary setting-dealing with some hard truths and issues. All Lucy wants to do is be a Canadian kid going to her first prom with the boyfriend who is going to take her away from the restrictions she lives with thanks to her family. Easy enough, right? After all, Lucy is Canadian. Her parents moved from Portugal when she was a baby. One problem. The move wasn't legal and now they have to go back. Talk about making it difficult for a character to achieve her goal! This is also a book I'd recommend to anyone wanting to craft a novel. This is one to read for enjoyment, then read to study. In my opinion, Nelsa does is all right. Oh yes she does. Now--on with the interview. As for the giveaway--all you need to do is comment. Open to Canada and U.S. and you're in for the random org draw. Closes this Saturday night at midnight.

About the book from Good Reads:
Sometimes discovering your roots is about more than watching your real hair colour grow in …

When seventeen-year-old Lucy do Amaral comes home with bleached blonde hair she expects a major lecture and another grounding from her strict Portuguese parents. What she doesn't expect is the shocking news that her family are illegal aliens who've just been told they're being deported in less than a week. Lucy's furious at being forced to leave her boyfriend and miss prom to go live in some backwater village in a country she knows nothing about. But as Lucy discovers, intentions and reality are sometimes worlds apart — or an ocean away.

I loved Lucy. A somewhat difficult character in the beginning (as you mentioned), but at the same time completely and utterly likeable. For me that was because of her love of family, her sense of humour and seeing that she had a boyfriend who was quite possibly backing out of his promises of love ever after. Did you struggle with making her likeable, worry that she might not be likeable enough?

When I first began writing Illegally Blonde, I knew I wanted to make Lucy feisty, sarcastic and with a little bit of attitude. I let all of her frustrations with her overprotective immigrant parents out and her intense reactions to situations left unchecked. Lucy is full of passion - she doesn't just accept things. For the story to work, I needed to show that passion even if it came across as a bit self-centred and misguided at times. I couldn't have a character whose reaction to finding out her family are illegal immigrants and that they are being deported in less than a week be a stoic 'whatever will be will be' . That is so not Lucy! But I also knew that she had a good heart and I needed to show that in order to make her more likeable. Hopefully I did with her loving relationship with her mom and how she treated her young cousin Carlos. Lucy is also not immune to feeling guilty about what she does - and that guilt is a symptom of moral conscience. While I know not everyone will connect with Lucy, I do hope that her actions are believeable for who she is - certainly not perfect but someone who believes fate is what you make it.

How did you plot out this book and characters? I found all the sub plots worked perfectly with Lucy’s own struggles with family and wanting to be free and learning what family can do and sometimes destroy.
Thank you! I really wanted the sub-plots to mirror many of the issues with which Lucy is struggling - the love and constriction that family gives you, the idea or thought of what 'home' means to a person, the struggle for independence and belief in yourself and what you think you can do. So I'm so glad to hear that you thought those sub-plots worked in enhancing those themes!

The plotting of the main story - Lucy's desire to come back to Canada and what she's willing to do to get back home, was fairly easy. I had my lightbulb moment for the story in 2006 when the crack-down on illegal Portuguese workers happened in Toronto. There was a picture in the newspaper of a teen girl helping to pack up her family's kitchen and she looked so sad and resigned to her fate I thought "What's going to happen to that girl when she goes back to a country she probably doesn't even remember?" And so Lucy was born.

As for the sub-plots - Lucy's relationship with her cousins, the romance with Filipe, the story-line with Filipe's mother - all of those sub-plots actually arose organically (meaning I didn't plan them out from the beginning!) from the main plot and theme of Lucy fighting for her independence while still feeling those loving, yet restrictive ties to family.

As for characters, I don't really set out to make each character a certain way. I don't typically do character studies or anything for the characters before I begin creating them. Something they say or do early on in the drafting of the book usually twigs their personality for me. For example, as I wrote Filipe he became the slightly sad, very responsible only son to a domineering mother out of one line in his first meeting with Lucy at an old abandoned church when she asks him:

"Why are you here? Don't you believe in ghosts?"

He looked around. For the first time in the conversation his expression turned serious.

"Depends on the kinds of ghosts we're talking about."

At that moment, I knew his relationship with his mother was just as complex and constricting as Lucy's was with her family. Only he dealt with it in a very different way than Lucy. The same thing happened with Carlos (Lucy's cousin). I didn't know he was born with a cleft palate until I wrote "I could also clearly see the ragged scar that cut across his top lip toward his nose..." But when I wrote it I knew that one detail was critical to understanding Carlos' personality and behaviour.

As I go through the second or third drafts of my books I start to see and enhance how the character's actions and words reflect the themes of the book. The choices each of the secondary characters in Illegally Blonde make all relate to those themes of independence and family and what it means to make your own choices and the impact those choices make, not just on you, but on the people who are your family.

Do you have a current project you are working on? What is your writing time like for that? You’ve discussed on your blog, finding that balance.

I'm always working on a project! :) Whether the work is 'working out' or not is another thing!

I'm about to receive my editorial letter for my second contemporary YA called THE BREAK (out with Great Plains Teen Fiction in Spring 2012) so I'm excited to dig into that story again. I've also just finished the first draft of another YA and I'm about to enter into the revision of that over the summer. When I do first drafts I write them long-hand into a notebook and then type the 'second draft' into the computer. But for the first draft I usually write on the subway to and from work, at lunch, waiting for various children's activities to be over - wherever and whenever I can get ten or more minutes to write I take it! I'm also more of a night owl and, at least when I first started writing, would write from 10 pm - 1 am at night - every night (that was my obsessive, first love stage with writing). I can't do that as much anymore. Too tiring!

When you do have that time to write, is there a particular spot, routine that helps you get into the zone? What do you do when you aren’t in that writing zone, when you feel like you’d rather go out and watch grass grow?
Believe it or not, my favourite writing spot that immediately gets me in the zone is the subway. I think it's because there are no distractions like TV or the Internet to lure me away! Even when I don't feel like it, if I pull out my notebook and I just start to read over the last couple of pages I wrote the previous day, it gets me into it and before my thirty minute morning commute is over I've found I've written two or three pages. Same thing on the way home (luckily, I usually get a seat on the subway! I couldn't do it otherwise)

When I really don't feel like writing I tell myself to just write a paragraph, a couple of sentences, anything! I don't go into it thinking I need to make a five page quota - that would probably freeze me up. I usually find that when I give myself the leeway to only write a few words I end up writing much more.

My book club is filled with aspiring writers, ages 8 to 13 and I’m gathering advice for them. Anything you would like to share? A fun tip or maybe a writing exercise for them to use and stretch with?
I'm so impressed with people that young already learning the craft of writing! For that age group, the best advice I could give (besides reading voraciously of course! :) is to keep a journal. I kept a journal of my daily activities for many years (I think I started in Grade 6). I stopped writing journals when I was a teen (silly me!) but picked it up again in my twenties and wrote for ten years. Coincidentally, I only stopped writing journal entries when I decided to write fiction. I find journal (or, if you prefer: diary) writing to be really helpful because you're writing what you know best (you!), learning how to express your feelings, making observations about the people around you and, most importantly, getting into the habit of writing every day. Once you can describe your own life and the lives of people around you, it becomes much easier, I think, to then create a fictional world.

Speaking of my book club kids. Anything you'd like to recommend they read or we get for our library? Something that is a recent read, or a book you loved when you were a child?
Oh, my goodness! I can never answer this kind of question because there are SO MANY awesome books out there. I do think that Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games is one of the best books that combines an amazing plot, excellent writing and a depth of characterization from which all writers could learn. However, I'm sure you already have that book! Seriously, if your book club is 8-13 I would recommend many of the Middle grade and younger skewing YA books created by the fabulous writers in the Torkidlit writers group (they have a Facebook page). You can't go wrong with reading anything by those authors and, bonus!, they're all Canadian! :)


I love that group and seeing what they are all up to!

Okay, I have to ask one last, random question. I see your dog, Hudson, looks like my dog Buddha. Where does Hudson sleep while you write?
Ah, are you a Golden Retriever owner? I'm obviously biased but I do think they are the best dogs in the world (except for the shedding hair!) Since I tend to write mostly in transit and out of the house, Hudson is usually at home, probably lying in the kitchen waiting for scrap food to fall from the kitchen counter. But when I do write at home, I'll probably be in the living room and since he's not allowed in there (that shedding hair again!), he'll lay down at the entrance to the room watching me with his big brown eyes and patiently waiting for me to finish when I know he's thinking, "Enough writing already! I need to go on a walk!"Dogs are in our lives to make us less self-centred, I think. And, by the way, Buddha is an AWESOME name for a dog.

Thanks so much for asking me to do this interview, Deb! Your questions were amazing!


Well, thank you back. If you want to learn more about Nelsa, check out her blog.

Tina Nichols Courey brainchilded Interview Wednesdays a while ago and now here we are! This week is being hosted by Lizann Flatt over on her blog, so go there when you are done here and see what else is happening for this event.  Happy reading!



Tuesday 14 June 2011

Sarah Rees Brennan Week-Day Two and a Giveaway



Today is day two of Sarah Rees Brennan Week and the day that Demon's Surrender is out and I am heading to the bookstore to meet up with a friend who got me some books while she was at Book Expo America (Janet, you ROCK!) Needless to say, I also want to grab a copy of Demon's Surrender....in the event that I do not want to wait I will be getting an e copy of the book. I'll let you know what I end up with (typing this the day before).

I am heading off to read book two when I am done typing this (have I mentioned that I am typing this up ahead of time?).  Loved book one, oh yes I did. The ending--major wow and made me a major fan. Plus, loved the characters and the world building, the magic, the demons. The list goes on and on. It's one I'd highly recommend to teens and adults and I'm pretty sure I'm going to kind of love the next one. 

More from Good Reads on books one and two:

DEMON'S LEXICON Nick and his brother, Alan, have spent their lives on the run from magic. Their father was murdered, and their mother was driven mad by magicians and the demons who give them power. The magicians are hunting the Ryves family for a charm that Nick's mother stole -- a charm that keeps her alive -- and they want it badly enough to kill again.
Danger draws even closer when a brother and sister come to the Ryves family for help. The boy wears a demon's mark, a sign of death that almost nothing can erase...and when Alan also gets marked by a demon, Nick is desperate to save him. The only way to do that is to kill one of the magicians they have been hiding from for so long.
Ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse, Nick starts to suspect that his brother is telling him lie after lie about their past. As the magicians' Circle closes in on their family, Nick uncovers the secret that could destroy them all.
DEMON'S COVENANT Mae Crawford's always thought of herself as in control, but in the last few weeks her life has changed. Her younger brother, Jamie, suddenly has magical powers, and she's even more unsettled when she realizes that Gerald, the new leader of the Obsidian Circle, is trying to persuade Jamie to join the magicians. Even worse? Jamie hasn't told Mae a thing about any of it. Mae turns to brothers Nick and Alan to help her rescue Jamie, but they are in danger from Gerald themselves because he wants to steal Nick's powers. Will Mae be able to find a way to save everyone she cares about from the power-hungry magician's carefully laid trap? [From Borders.com]


So, all that is left for me to do is tell you about the giveaway. It will be for your choice of book one, two or three of the series, whichever it is that you need to complete or start your collection (or if you already have them all, feel free to donate the book to your local library if you win!).  This is international as I will be using Book Depository. You have until this Thursday night (midnight MST). I will announce the winner on Friday and send the book out!

Don't forget to check out YA Bibliophile and Reading Housewives of Indiana for a round up of links for days one and two.

Monday 13 June 2011

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday-Interview and Giveaway-Rebecca Upjohn

Today I’m welcoming Rebecca Upjohn to Marvelous Middle Grade Monday. She is also one of the authors I’m featuring for Oh MG YA Canada. A great combination and thanks to Rebecca for taking part. You can find out more about her on her website, rebeccaupjohn.com

Rebecca’s debut middle grade is The Last Loon, which I read a couple of weeks ago and loved. This is another heads up on the quality of books from Orca Young Reader series. Evan is a boy who is sent to live with his aunt for part of the Christmas Holidays. He’s got some attitude adjusting to do--and he get’s it, but not in a heavy handed here’s your lesson Evan. What he learns about himself and respect for others comes from within him and the concern he feels for a lone loon that is in danger of dying if it does not leave the lake it is on. Soon that lake will be frozen over and the loon will have no way to take off (they need water to get a good enough speed for take off, they’re too heavy to do it on land). The thought of what will happen to the loon if he doesn’t do something drives Evan to take action and do the things that makes an ordinary, poor attitude-ed boy a hero and the kind of person best friends are made of.
And now....on with the interview.
How did this story idea develop? I have to tell you what I loved is that for me this would have been a dream vacation as a kid! Staying with an aunt, lakeside, wilderness for a back yard. But, Evan? Not so much.The loon part of the story was inspired by an actual loon rescue by my cousin on a lake in Ontario that I spent many summers at as a kid. I love loons so when she told me the story, I got goose-bumps and asked if I could use it. Some of the events in the story were based on real occurrences such as the part about the hovercraft. The character of Evan was developed slowly. The initial inspiration was a boy at a school visit I did, who didn't know what a frog was. It was the moment when I realized that lots of the kids had never seen wildlife outside the city. Many kids don't have the opportunity spend time out in the woods or on lakes the way I did. Being in the natural world had a huge affect on who I am. So, into my life walked Evan, a boy who needed the loon as much as the loon needed the boy. I made Evan a city kid with no experience in the wild, with the hope that the setting would gradually draw him in.
I liked Evan right away, although there were some things that could have made him un-likeable. Was it easy for you to get us to like him, or were them some rewrites involved to get you there.
Great question! Some readers have told me that Evan is too obnoxious at the beginning. He certainly has attitude. It took a while to develop his character. The first draft was all wrong--for one thing he was too young and whiney! I loved writing from the point of view of an eleven-year old boy and the humour helped. I have two boys of my own and I have always enjoy being around them and their friends. It's nutty but often amusing. I hoped the magic of being in the setting Evan was in, would work on him as he experienced new things. He is a lively, curious kid and the other characters treat him differently than he expects. Cedar had a big impact because he is so different than Evan. Writing in Evan's voice, in a first person POV, helped get into his head. I did have to work at finding a balance! My editor really helped that process.
You also write picture books. How do you balance that? One project at a time, work on both during your writing day?
I usually work on one thing at a time. Each story seems to demand my full attention. I wish I could do multiple projects simultaneously but the only time I can make that work is if the projects are in very different stages of completion. I work slowly. It takes time for me "to grow" a book.
Something I haven’t asked my pervious guests is where is their favourite place to write? What is yours? At a desk? On the couch?
I've just started using a treadmill desk. I love it!
Do you have a great author moment you could share? Maybe a question from a student during a school visit, or something from a book signing?
At a recent school visit, one of the students didn't quite believe that I, as the author of the book they'd been reading, was really coming. "Is she the real author or a knock-off?" I loved that. I love how kids think and how they question things.Okay--that moment? Priceless!
My book club is filled with aspiring writers, ages 8 and up and I’ve been gathering advice from my Oh MG & YA featured authors. I saw on your website that you’ve been writing since you were a child (including songs for your high school rock band the RADS!) What advice would you share?
Read, read, read! Write, write, write! Don't worry about the quality. The more you do the better you will get. Enjoy the process, because, it IS a process.
Speaking of my book club kids. Anything you'd like to recommend they read or we get for our library? Something that is a recent read, or a book you loved when you were a kid? The kids are aged 8-12, plus I now have three teenagers who’ve started to come. We’re starting a teen book club in the fall and they’re getting an early start!"Out of the Box" by Michelle Mulder, "Blob" by Frieda Wishinsky, and Arthur Slade's "Hunchback Assignments" series. "Zorgamazoo" by Robert Paul Weston, "Featherbrain" by Maureen Bush and anything by Diana Wynne Jones!
What’s next for you? Do you have anymore books you are writing for Orca Young Readers?
I'm working on a picture book for older readers set during WWII. All will be revealed soon...I would like to write more books at the Orca Young Readers level. I had so much fun writing The Last Loon!
Happy writing, Rebecaa and thanks again for being here! Before I move on to the Giveaway info, you can check this site out! Here what a loon sounds like.
GIVEAWAY-All you have to do is comment by this Wednesday, June 15 (midnight MST). Please include your email so I can contact you. Open to Canada and U.S.
LAST WEEK’S GIVEAWAY WINNER for Yolanda Ridge’s Trouble in the Trees was *Lisa*. The book is on the way!
More on Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: When Shannon Whitney Messenger developed Marvelous Middle Mondays I was in, as were many others and the group and posts are growing, growing!
Here are my MMGM posts all together-ed.
And here are other regular posters:

Sarah Rees Brennan Week

What? What is that you say? You say today is kick-off to Sarah Rees Brennan Week? Why, yes yes it is. And a big thanks to the hosts. Looking forward to following along, reading reviews, hearing thoughts and reading guest posts from from Sarah herself. And of course reading DEMON'S SURRENDER. which is out tomorrow, tomorrow, the book will come out tomorrow! (Um, yes, I somehow slipped into a bookish version of The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow).

I am a huge fan of the first book (oh my, that ending--and the twist, one of _the best_ endings) and next is to read the second and tomorrow, the third. Happy reading and blogging!

Wednesday 8 June 2011

Interview Wednesday

Thanks to Tina Nichols Coury we are on week two of Interview Wednesday. Check out links to interviews in her comments section. And, of course don't forget to watch her always fabulous writing tip of the day--this time from author Suzanne Morgan Williams.

Here is the link :


Enjoy and happy Wednesday!

Monday 6 June 2011

48 Hour Book Challenge-The Finish!

Tween all and everything I ended up with 12 hours of reading under my belt and 48 dollars to Slave Lake Library and taking part in a book sale, the funds going to the same rebuilding of a library. All in all a great first time out. I _loved_ taking part in a read-a-thon and looking forward to the next one. I realized how easy it is to set aside time-and easy it is to chip away at that time. I became hyper aware of how many little things I jump up to do. I'm not talking about the job and the hanging out with the grand boy this weekend and heading out to a friends book signing. I'm talking about those other hiddens...the wash, the puttering about the house, suddenly deciding to re-organize a book shelf, answer an email, prepare a new story...all things that need to be done, but...now I see how over the years I don't seem able to read as much as when I first started at the library.  The multi tasking has become a little out of hand and the reading (and writing!) got shifted further and further back. Huh. If not for this weekend I don't think I would have seen that.

Oddly enough, when I started to type this I had not intended it to become all about me and this inner reflection. But there you have it!

12 hours (will strive for 20 on the next go around), post's here and here about what I read. And, oh my, how I enjoyed going around and seeing what everyone else was doing. 2 of my 12 hours were spent doing that and today...I'll be doing some more going 'round and reading finishing posts. Thanks Mother Reader Pam...you. ROCK! Congratulations to everyone who took part and read, read, read. See y'all next year.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday-Gossip from the Girls' Room by Rose Cooper

As part of the 48 Hour Book Challenge I read Rose Cooper's Gossip from the Girls' Room. Main character Sophia is a mission, a popularity mission. And the gossip she hears in the girl's bathroom plus her Blogtastic blog may well be the key! At least that's what she thinks. Sometimes plans aren't what we make them. Here are the quick thoughts I typed up for the 48 Book Challenge..."deelightfilled book, fantastic voice and main character, Sofia made me laugh out loud, smile and _feel_ for her as she reached for popularity in her middle school, school. One I will be recommending to my book club kids, fans of Dork Diaries & Wimpy Kid."
From Good Reads:
Gossip from the Girls’ Room fills readers in on all there is to learn about middle school life at Middlebrooke, where Sofia has her very own blog and discusses all the juicy gossip that comes out of the Girls’ room; read along to find out just what happens when class is not in session.
 

In Sofia's words . . .
Mia St. Claire is only the most popular girl in all of Middlebrooke Middle School. For three very obvious reasons:
1. She's very rich.
2. She has tons of money.
3. She can buy anything and everything she wants. And she does.
I'm sure people like her for other reasons too, but none of those reasons are obvious enough for me to really know. Or care about, for that matter.

Today, I will also be reading the following two books. Both came highly recommended to me by kid readers and I think they would work well with Rose's book. Love doing the pairings!
From Good Reads The Loser List. When Danny gets caught trying to cross his name off the "Geek" list in the girls' bathroom, he's sent to detention. Bullies torment him mercilessly -- until they discover that Danny can draw. He enjoys his new "bad boy" status, supplying tattoos and graffiti, until he's unknowingly drawn into a theft. Turns out the bullies took a comic book from Danny's favorite store. Can he steal it back before they get caught -- and break off with the bullies before he gets in too deep?
From Good Reads-Notes from a Totally Lame Vampire-Tim Collins (text) and Andrew Pinder (illustrations)-Nigel Mullet isn't your typical teenager . . . he's a vampire. But unfortunately, when Nigel transformed he didn't become all broody and interesting, and as for super strength and speed . . . well, forget it! Instead he's got acne, a voice that squeaks, a tendency to break out in a rash (not sparkles!) when exposed to the sun, and absolutely no idea how to talk to girls.
When a beautiful new girl moves into the neighborhood, Nigel is determined to win her heart but first he's got to figure out how. In the meantime, he writes about her in his diary and composes really bad love poetry that he will recite to her one day, if he can work up the courage to tell her the truth. Can Nigel win the girl and the respect of his family--or is he destined to be a totally lame vampire forever?

Happy Middle Grade Monday all and for more awesome head on over to Shannon Whitney Messenger's blog. She is the one who started us on this wonderful way to celebrate middle grade! 

And even more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday bloggers:


Saturday 4 June 2011

48 Hour Book Challenge-Check In # 2

Finished reading Eight Keys by Suzanne LaFleur (see previous post on how much I LOVED this book) and then read Gossip from the Girls' Room by Rose Cooper (deelightfilled book, fantastic voice and main character, Sofia made me laugh out loud, smile and _feel_ for her as she reached for popularity in her middle school, school. One I will be recommending to my book club kids, fans of Dork Diaries & Wimpy Kid).

This added 3 hrs fifteen minutes to my previous chunk of reading, bringing me up to 9 hours. As the time for my 48 hours of read-a-thon time draws to a close I realize it highly unlikely I will be able to put in 20 hours! Over imagined the amount of time I could get in for taking part in this. S'okay, though. I'm thrilled to have taken part in my first ever read-a-thon thanks to Mother Reader and the 48 Hour Book Challenge!

Going to to a bit of reading and catching up with others taking part in the challenge then off to finish up, Illegally Blonde by Nelsa  Roberto (MC is funny, strong, utterly likeable- inspite of being dragged away from from life in Canada and her final year of school there. Fans of Sarah Dessen would really enjoy this one, imo.)


48 Hour Book Challenge-Checking In

Just a checking in. And it was a interesting first attempt, and one I realize now I'd over thought. I kept changing the time until a really could start. Had a few things that kept coming up that I did need to deal with right away. Realized that if I kept pushing the time back it would be midnight...okay maybe not that bad, but with me you never know!

SO---went back to the 9 AM-9 AM Sunday senario realizing there are going to be times when I am cobbling together (saw that in the Mother Reader comments, can't remember who said it?) the reading time.

Blogging/Social/Seeing what up in #48HBC land : 30 mins/5mins/30mins

Reading: 3mins/2mins/15mins/60mins/55mins/35mins/66mins/40mins

**Edited to add (yeesh, in a bit of too much a hurry!)

Total time-5 hrs 45 mins

What I Read
I have three ARCS I want to read, MG.
Eight Keys-not finished yet, but already it's filling all corners of my heart as I follow Elise as she grows into being 12, finding new friends, trying to fit into middle school, being bullied by "that girl", questioning her bff and whether or not it's good for her to hang with him anymore cause everyone thinks she's a baby because of him. And--taking that journey with her dad who is no longer with her, but each birthday she is given a letter--year 12 is the last letter and I think will be, for Elise, the most significant..it will unlock everything she needs to know about herself. In other words, I'm hooked into the book and the MC. Think kids will be too. This is not due for release until August 23--normally I wouldn't talk so early about a book but it's going back to the person I borrowed it from, today. Same with the next two.

The Girl Behind the Glass-Kind of wanted to start reading it all over again. Subtle ghost story, compelling mystery behind the who and the why and how the author told the story itself. More detailed review closer to release date. This is an ARC from the publisher that I borrowed from a friend

And one YA.

Extraordinary-A fuller review coming later, this book does not come out until Nov/2011. But I will say (as The Plot Whisperer does), beginnings hook the reader (and Adam Selzer did a great job of hooking me in)...endings make fans. I am a fan. He took vampires (including prudish victorian ones), fairy godmothers (okay, fairy godmofo), zombies, highschool, true love, an ordinary girl (who deals with anger by smashing crap from the dollar store), Shakespeare, The Music Man and some unicorn poop, mixed it all together into a great, clever read for teens. Kind of a wow for me.


Off into the day for awhile. Our library book sale is today and I am doing a puppet show @ 11:00 (Pig-Pig is in the house and someone told him the show is ALL about him! Move over Little Red Hen and Goldilocks. Snort!).

Cheers and happy reading!

Friday 3 June 2011

48 Hour Book Challenge

I am set. Have a few other things going on this weekend-puppet show, big library sale, book signing to attend, grandson sleepover (yay for sleepovers with grandma and grandpa!)

The time frame:

From Fri. 10 AM to Sunday 10 AM (Friday will have the biggest chunk of reading time).

The Goal:

Read 20 hours during the next 48

The books:

I have three ARCS I want to read, MG.

Eight Keys

The Girl Behind the Glass

And one YA.

Extraordinary

Plus, I have a YA I am going to finishing reading (which BTW, I am loving!)

Illegally Blonde

The above are for the first leg of the reading. I have two more piles to choose from depending on how the above reading goes. One includes all Canadian MG and YA titles, the other is a pile of MG I recently purchased and or won, plus in there is one YA I have _must_ read...WITHER (yep, have not read that one yet).

The Cause:


I am going to donate to Slave Lake Library-buying books from our own library sale this weekend (all the money we make goes to them.) Plus, will make a $48 general donation. For those of you who are wondering about Slave Lake, it is the town in Northern Alberta that burnt almost 50 percent to the ground a couple of weeks ago.This included their library which was just built in 2010 and we all know the heart, sweat and soul that goes into making something like that happen. Here is more information on donations to Slave Lake, in general:

Global TV, Slave Lake Donation information

Alrighty, that is it for my starting line post! Thanks to Mother Reader for being the read-a-thon Mom! See you all in about five hours. Going to stop, do a quick read see what everyone else is up to, report progress then back to the readin'.

Reading Angel: Once Upon a Read-a-Thon Sign-ups

Well now...whilst preparing for this weekends 48 Hour Book Challenge (see sidebar) I came across another. How great is that? This one is in July and to that I say, yay!



Wednesday 1 June 2011

YA bibliophile: Sarah Rees Brennan Week Info!

There is a week of awesome heading our way thanks to The Reading Housewives of Indiana and YA Bibliophile! Here it is:

YA bibliophile: Sarah Rees Brennan Week Info!



Rae Bridgman: Resources (Canadian kids' fantasy authors, writers' organizations)

Rae Bridgman: Resources (Canadian kids' fantasy authors, writers' organizations)

Interview Wednesday - Kidlitosphere - Tales from the Rushmore Kid

A big big, thanks to Tina Nichols Curry who has put together Interview Wednesday. It's an opportunity to read, watch and or listen to interviews with authors, illustrators, agents, editors. Pretty darn awesome I tell you. Click on the link below to see you Tina recently spoke with (and you are always assured of getting some great great information), then check out the comments for links to even more wonderful-ness!


Interview Wednesday - Kidlitosphere - Tales from the Rushmore Kid

Happy reading, listening...learning all!

#ReadtheNorth

Over the last while there has been a hashtag you may have seen about called Read the North. It's a campaign encouraging people to read C...