I finally got around to reading ON WRITING: A MEMOIR OF THE CRAFT, Stephen King’s book that every writer should read. Since he reportedly earned 17 million last year, he must know a few things about writing. Plus there are over 350 million copies of his dozens of books in existence. He has such an…
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Annick Press
I attended an excellent webinar put on by CANSCAIP (Canadian Society for Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers) last night. It was moderated by author Natasha Deen, who had wonderful questions for Katie Hearn, Editorial Director at Annick Press, and Gayna Theophilus, Rights and Sales Director for Annick. They had excellent, in-depth and thoughtful answers, and…
Bits and Pieces of Fall in this Virtual World
I enjoyed my first virtual school visit last week (Dr. Arthur Hines School), using Google Meets. It went well, although for the Q&A portion, kids had to approach the teacher’s laptop directly; otherwise I couldn’t hear them. From grades 4 and up, the students in Nova Scotia are masked, so it was a little tricky…
Main Street Melancholy
1960s small-town life When I was a kid in 1960s small-town Nova Scotia, going “uptown” was a big deal. Oh, the wonders to be seen at Woolworth’s, the hardware store and the Metropolitan store in those simpler times! Tanks full of innocent goldfish, waiting to be bagged up and taken home to a guaranteed short…
Endless mask-making
Masks for the Food Bank Demand is great, and I’ve now made over 3,000 masks,including these lovely sea-inspired ones worn by my writing retreat pals, raising thousands of dollars for local food banks and school backpack programs. The latter (facilitated by the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Wolfville) is even more important now that…
Important Books in my Life
I’ve been having fun thinking of seven books that have been influential in my life, yet another Face Book tagging game. I’m sure there could have been others, but these are the ones that came to my mind first. the book I re-read at least once a year, while occasionally wishing I was Kate DiCamillo…
Masks, Grandparents, and Tragedy: Nova Scotia in the Times of Covid
I’ve been making masks, about 50/day for the past ten days, and raising lots of money for the Food Bank. I know many kids get a good chunk of their nutrition at school, when there is school, and I wanted to find a way to help them. I didn’t know the demand would be so…
SAY WHAT YOU MEAN (Mean What You Say) – an excerpt
Publishers (like Nevermore Press/Trap Door Books in Lunenburg) are asking authors to contribute some online content in these days of homeschooling; not sure if this link will work, but here it is, in case you have 15 spare minutes – personally, I’m using my spare time trying to learn to sing harmony – a lifelong…
Nature, Picasso and other ramblings…
As we’re all trying to keep up with the COVID-19 news, I’ve been spending lots of time by the ocean. I’ve been thinking about Nature, the essential part of our world we have so little control over. I wonder what lessons we’ll all take away from this pandemic. Will we travel less? Buy more locally-produced…
I READ CANADIAN DAY, February 19, 2020
Hope everybody finds 15 minutes (or more) this Wednesday (or any day) to read a Canadian-authored book! I’ll be visiting the elementary school in my hometown of Wolfville, Nova Scotia tomorrow and sharing this little guy with the primary and grade one students. And some recent comments that made me smile, in the “kids-say-the-darndest-things” way:…
