Today’s my 50th birthday – I’m pretty happy to be here to celebrate it, given the alternative.  Spent the weekend at a quaint Green Gables type house on a white sandy beach in Port Joli – probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been; my dream house, in fact.  It was cozy and we had lots of fun; hiked the Keji Seaside Adjunct and saw dozens of seals basking in the warm sun. The weather cooperated completely; it was warm and sunny the whole time.  I’m thinking ahead to an author pic for A Hare in the Elephant’s Trunk, so Nance took several photos of me on the beach, all of which were horrible.  I see now why writers sometimes use photos of themselves as children in books – we were all much cuter as kids! Peter said he presented the book at a Fitzhenry & Whiteside sales meeting last week, and it was well received. I’m looking forward to seeing the cover image they’ve chosen and to reading the manuscript one final time after the copy editor has finished with it.

It’s been a week since I left my job at NKEC. I still think about the students, but I’m already feeling more rested and able to focus on the rest of my life again. Today, Shannon took me out for breakfast, then Liam took me out for lunch, so I’ve been duly pampered.  Tomorrow I’ll head out to the cottage by myself (to await the Aliant person who is coming to hook up the internet for us, sometime between 8 am and 5 pm on Friday!) and hope to get into some writing while I’m there.  I took a giant book out of the Acadia library today about the Montbeliard settlers (my Mingo family included) who arrived in Nova Scotia in the 1700s from Europe. I’ve always been interested in writing something about that voyage from a kid’s point of view, but I’m sure I’ll be challenged to find much relevant information. I’m also thinking about writing something else for the Korean language school (JLS) – this fall they’ll be looking for longer works (10 – 20,000 words).  I also had a university student contact me on the weekend with a series of questions about being a writer – it was interesting to reflect on my writing life while answering her questions via email.  Usually, I just write, but I don’t think about the process all that much.

Two hours of American Idol to sit through tonight – my money is on Crystal Bowersox!

Looks like I’ll be moving on from NKEC within the next few days – I’m suffering from sleep deficiency, and I’ve been sleeping a little better already since making the decision to leave. 220 students is simply too many, and I haven’t been able to shut down my brain when it’s time to sleep at night. I’ve sure learned a lot, and enjoyed my time with the grade 6 and 7 students, but I’ll be looking for a part-time position for next year. Going from tutoring ESL students one-on-one was too big a leap I guess.  Everyone has been very supportive of my decision, and I know it’s the right thing to do.  The teacher who will replace me will come in on Wednesday, and I’m planning on this being my last week.

I’m looking forward to having some time to concentrate on writing again; it’s gotten lost in the mix while I’ve been teaching full-time. I’m also looking forward to having time to think about Shannon’s graduation and enjoy Liam being home for the summer. The Stage Prophets’ production of The Sound of Music was on last weekend – it was lovely seeing Shannon play Leisl (sp?) and it was an amazingly ambitious production – I’m sure there were well over 100 people involved. Kudos to Mary Hanneman who brings everyone together every year for these performances and who does such a great job of directing.

I’ve been a tad overwhelmed with my new teaching job – well, I guess I’ve already been there almost two months.  It’s going pretty well, all things considered, but I’m having real trouble sleeping – can’t see to clear my mind of all things school-related, even when I’m totally exhausted.  I bought a nice lavender/thyme soak to enjoy before bed tonight, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed. 

Received the second set of edits/editing comments on A Hare in the Elephant’s Trunk from Peter Carver today – I’ll get to them on the weekend; I think it’ll be a welcome distraction from my Core French life.  I didn’t even allow myself to delve into the notes a little bit, for fear of losing even more sleep…

I’m still trying to decide what to do in celebration of my 50th – take the family to NYC, or myself to Quebec City or possibly Paris…Maybe by the summer, I’ll have had enough French to last me for a while!

Well, I’ve completed the first two weeks of  a maternity leave position teaching Core French to Grade 6 and 7 students at Northeast Kings Education Centre in Canning. The first week I had a head cold and was overwhelmed by the 220 new names. The second week went much better as I had some discipline policies in place and I know all but a few names now, which makes life a whole lot easier!  I had forgotten how much energy young people 11-13 have! They’re lots of fun, but a little too chatty by times…We’re working on that!  We started doing presentations on “Qui Suis Je?” (Who Am I?) last week; for many of them it’s the first time they’ve presented something in French, but  I was pretty proud of those who have already presented. Hopefully we’ll get those wrapped up tomorrow, and then it’s on to Les Jeux Olympiques! 

I haven’t yet heard from Peter with notes on the revision I sent him in early January, and it’s just as well as I’m still finding my way in my new job.  Jacob just left a message asking if he could do anything to help during his study week, so I forwarded him the latest edition of the manuscript and hopefully he’ll get time to read through it.  I watched his documentary (by Noah Pink) a few weeks ago, and it’s very moving. I must mail if off to Peter so he can see it…All for now…

I’m about to start a new job! I haven’t worked full-time, outside the house, for over 20 years, so it will be interesting!  I’ll be filling in on a maternity leave for at least the next five months – Grade 6 & 7 Core French and Focused Literacy at Northeast Kings in Canning. Krista, the teacher having the baby, expected to be there until the end of February, but her doctor has said she’s finished and has to stay off her feet more. I’ll do a day of subbing tomorrow, then finish up my ESL at KCA, and start at NKEC on Monday, February 1st.  I’m pretty excited about it, but slightly overwhelmed by the fact I’ll have over 220 students! They rotate in and out of the French room every 30 minutes – I hope I’m up to the challenge of learning that many names.  I have lots of ideas, and I’m taking the approach that it will be similar to an elementary classroom in that they are beginning French learners – but, hopefully, somewhat more capable (and bigger!) than early elementary students. I’m planning to start with a unit on les Jeux Olympiques, since they’ll be happening in February. I know I’ll have a lot less writing time, but I also know I’ll waste much less time. Bonne Chance a Moi!

I had an hour-long chat with MY editor, Peter Carver on the 22nd.  He had sent me 9 pages of editorial notes a few days earlier. Wisely, I didn’t read them until Don and I returned from a one-night get away to the sandy, but blustery, beaches of Lockeport. I was a little freaked out, mainly because the novel is more fiction than fact, and I was worried Peter and I weren’t on the same wavelength on that point.  He was very reassuring and it’s all good now.  Many of the points are simple things that I can fix in a few minutes.  His main areas of concern were logistical – ie. relating to time, distance and setting. I had to confess that I was more concerned with creating the story itself; believable characters and situations, when I was revising last winter with Gary Blackwood. I’ve sent a few questions off to Jacob, and I’m hoping he’ll get back to me soon as I have to finish this first round of revisions before the end of January. Depending on his response as to when and where he was (if he remembers from 20 years ago!) at a given time, there may be a lot of rewriting of certain parts of the novel. Peter seems pretty happy with a lot of aspects of the current manuscript – it’s so amazing to get positive feedback, especially from someone for whom I have enormous respect. It is kind of an odd circumstance wherein I’ve created a work of fiction, the bones of which are Jacob Deng’s story. In reading the manuscript now, I sometimes find it hard to distinguish between the parts that are fiction and those that are non-fiction.

I just finished Caroline Pignat’s GG-winning novel, Greener Grass, also edited by Peter, and it’s excellent! I’m envious of the opportunity she had to spend time in Ireland, researching the history of the Potato Famine, and just breathing in the air of the setting for her novel. Kit’s voice is very true, and it’s so lovely that Caroline was able to pick her own grandmother’s brain as part of researching the story. Stories are such a wonderful way for people, young and old, to learn about the past – I had no idea of the intimate details of the potato famine prior to reading this novel. 

As 2009 is on the brink of becoming history, I’m pretty happy about my writing life.  If all goes according to plan, I should have 5 illustrated chapter books published by the Korean language school next year, one novel, and one non-fiction ESL book about Quebec. I’ve been writing for close to 10 years now – hopefully my publishing drought is over…I’ll keep my fingers crossed…

I mailed off my signed contract to Red Deer Press last week. I can see it would be valuable to have an agent when signing a contract, because I did find a few small discrepancies when reading over the contract, which the publisher was quick to correct for me. Editor Peter Carver and I had some email discussion yesterday regarding the original 67,000 word version and a subsequent 55,000 word version – we easily agreed that the original would be the working copy for editing. He hopes to get the first round of edits to me before Christmas. 

I have another chapter book story to write for JLS, the Korean language school.  The editor asked for a female protagonist this time, so I’m mulling over some ideas.  He’s away on vacation until January so there’s no immediate deadline there.

Seems winter has finally arrived. We’ve had a persistent cold wind for the past 48 hours or so, and I’ll be happy when it blows away. Think I’m just about finished my Christmas shopping; hopefully tonight we’ll be able to do some decorating around the house. Shannon has been the initiator of those activities these past few years; don’t know what will happen when she’s off at school next year until just before Christmas…A group of kids from Horton put on a comedy night last night and raised $1350 for cancer research, about 3 times the amount they raised last year so I guess Christmas is a pretty good time for fundraising efforts.

In the past several weeks, I’ve written and revised four manuscripts for illustrated chapter books to be used in English Second Language schools for JLS, an English language school based in South Korea. The titles include: The Queen and Mr. Cunningham, The Impossible Dive, The Witch’s Fingers, and The Cheesy Man Giant. They’re all currently with illustrators; I’ve already been paid for three of them, and I can’t wait to see the books, sometime in 2010. They’ll be in use in the JLS schools by next summer. The editor I’ve worked with is based in British Columbia, and he has been very gracious and efficient throughout the process. It’s been a totally different approach to writing for me; the gratification is certainly much more immediate than in standard trade publishing! It’s been fun blending my ESL knowledge with my writing life.

The course I was taking at Acadia, “Strategies for Teaching a Second Language”, is now over. I learned so much about teaching French, and also got to improve my own French as most of the course was delivered in French.  It was also a bit of a trip down Memory Lane, spending time with young adults in a classroom setting – it had been a couple of decades since I’d last had that experience!

Spent a day earlier this week with 20 Primary/One students – it was lots of fun, but I was exhausted by 2:30! They’ve got a ton of energy, and a million questions/comments, it seems. We started the day with a “snowball” fight in the gym – the teacher had made snowballs out of pantyhose and polyester batting, followed by a session of “follow the leader” that left all of us a bit breathless. I spend 20 minutes or so in that class every day which made it easier as I already knew all of their names.

I’m so thrilled for Caroline Pignat – her young adult novel, Greener Grass, just won the Governor General’s Medal for Children’s Literature! The book was published earlier this year and edited by Peter Carver (who will be editing my Lost Boys novel as well!) I met Caroline at Peter and Kathy Stinson’s writing retreat in Port Joli two summers ago; I haven’t read her novel yet, but the excerpts of her writing which she did read at PJ were remarkable,  her talent obvious, and I’m sure this recognition is very well-deserved. I must stop by The Box of Delights to see if they have a copy… I can’t begin to imagine how excited Caroline must be!

I’ve accepted an offer from Red Deer Press to publish A Hare in the Elephant’s Trunk. If all goes according to plan, it should be between covers in the Fall of 2010, which is really quick!  As it turned out, I had a second offer, as well as serious consideration from two other publishers, but I know Red Deer’s Children’s Editor, Peter Carver, will help me make this book the best it can possibly be.  Their terms seem very fair, and I met with Jacob Deng last Friday to confirm his approval of the book going forward.  Although it is a work of fiction, it is certainly inspired by Jacob’s story, and I hope the book will help support his foundation, Wadeng Wings of Hope, through which he is raising money to support education in Southern Sudan.  Stop by www.Wadeng.org if you’re looking for a unique Christmas gift!

I first got the idea for the novel 2.5 years ago when the Acadia Alumni Bulletin contacted me to interview Jacob and write an article for the Bulletin. I listened to Jacob that March day, in awe, for 2 hours, and I just knew it was a story to be told for young readers. In Jacob’s words, his interest in having his story told is to empower young readers living in difficult situations to believe in their own ability to dig themselves out of just about any horrible circumstance. Exactly!

I’m excited to begin the editing process; I’m confident I’ll learn lots from Peter over the winter!

I’ve also signed three contracts over the past month for three English as a Second Language chapter books with a Korean language school, JLS Academy, which has a British Columbia office. It’s a completely different type of writing in that I submit the manuscript, sign the contract, do some on-line editing and get paid! A very different scenario than trade publishing. I’ve also just had a manuscript accepted for StorySomething – a web-based venture offering personalized picture books for busy parents to read to their children on-line.  Interesting…Guess I’d better get back to writing!