So, thanks to the wonderful Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia and my publisher, Red Deer Press, I did get to go to Rideau Hall last week for the GG ceremony. It was a grand event, and I spent the evening with Kate Watson of the Hackmatack program and Trecia Schell of the Pictou Antigonish Regional Library.  The pictures are with His Excellency The Right Honourable David Johnston (I think that’s his correct title…); with son Liam and our MP, Scott Brison; with Christopher Moore, winner of the GG for Children’s Text for his non-fiction book, “From Then to Now”; the room where the ceremony was held; and with Patrick DeWitt, fiction winner for “The Sisters Brothers”.

I had a chance to talk to one of the jury members for my category and hear a little of how they sorted through the 260 books nominated in the children’s text category – about a quarter of  the 1,000 English language books nominated  in all 7 English categories – seems to me there should at least be separate categories for younger and older children’s text (ie. picture books vs. novels). At the moment, they’re all lumped together, with a separate category for illustrations. Hmmm…

Liam and I had a lovely visit with Kings Hants MP  Scott Brison.  He gave us a tour of the Parliament Building and is a most amiable and personable guy. I was most impressed by his various references to fairly obscure details from my blog – he obviously did some research before our visit! Liam didn’t actually get to go to the GG ceremony – I can’t figure out how they give out the invitations (240) – all I do know is that the finalists aren’t invited, which seems kind of strange to me.  Most of the people I spoke to there didn’t really know why they had received an invitation, other than that they have some connection to the book world.  Rideau Hall is beautiful, and I had a nice chat with Mrs. Sharon Johnston who told me she likes to write and has a book-length manuscript almost completed. What a busy life it must be for them! They have 8 grandchildren who I’m sure love to visit them in that palatial space!  We found a few random plastic dinosaurs and Christmas elves in the greenhouses of Rideau Hall – cute!

While in Ottawa, I signed a few books at Kaleidoscope Kids, a cozy children’s bookstore on Bank Street. Thanks, Kim  and Kelly! I finished my trip with a 24-hour whirlwind visit to Kingston. Liam’s already in his 4th year at Queen’s.  Where does the time go?