I must leave you all for a time!

And I am sorry as ever to do it, especially now that I have met so many of you in the comments section of the post below (thank you so much for indulging me everyone, it was really cool).

But I am drawing near, very near, to my deadline for book 2 and I really need to focus all writing energy on that. So it will probably be two weeks, or so before we meet again, but trust me I will be thinking of you all often!

Big sloppy kisses!

As the Caterpillar said . . .

I saw this on another blog a couple months back and after a few people introduced themselves in the comments section in the last post, I thought it could be a cool idea.

By using my lovely Statcounter, I know there are more of you out there than usually comment. Now I know it isn't international de-lurking month (or was it week, day?) but I have always been a very curious person, as well as someone who really likes meeting new people, so I thought, if you all didn't mind, that maybe you could come out of the shadows, just for this post. You are not obligated to comment all the time or even ever again (as I can imagine that pressure could be there once you have commented once), but just this once . . . could be neat.

So who are you (as the Caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland would ask)? Do you write and if so what? Anything else that we would find amusing, interesting, or scratch our chins in contemplation over? Come on my lovely readers . . . step into the light . . .

A Really Special Day

So yesterday was that book launch/reading/signing thingy for Alex at Indigo at Yorkdale that I was telling you all about and it was pretty darn amazing.

My mom and dad basically organised the whole thing, aside from a few mentions here, a mass email and an invite on Facebook, I did basically nothing. They had made postcards, and invited all their friends and extended family. You know, you invite 50 people in the hopes 10 will actually come, that sort of thing?

But what happens when almost everyone you invite shows up?

But back to the start of the tale.

My mom picked me up from my place and we drove up to Yorkdale Mall for around 1pm. For those not in the know, Yorkdale Mall is one of the biggest in the city, and slightly outside of downtown so there is a massive parking lot surrounding it. And on the weekends, the place is packed. Like unbelievably so. It's sort of hard to describe just how packed. Anyway, this matters to the tale later on.

We went up to the children's book section of the Indigo to meet with Wendy who is in charge of the section as well as doing these book launch things. She's done quite a few in the past (in fact almost exactly a year ago we'd been to the book launch of a friend Rona Arato's book Ice Cream Town, and Wendy had helped organised that one as well), and is extremely enthusiastic. I had actually met her at the Scholastic dinner and had a lovely chat.

So with the help of many other fine Indigo staff, along with my aunt Betty who showed up soon after with veggies and dip, and Denise from Scholastic (who even brought me a pen to sign books with), we set up the food and coffee tables and chairs, and the sound system. People were slowly arriving (my good friend Lisa's mother Sabrina arrived early and helped us set out the cupcakes in a very artistic manner). And they just sort of kept coming. And coming. And suddenly I went from, "Eh this is all old hat by now, I've done many readings already" to complete terror as the numbers grew. Fortunately it was a very loving crowd, consisting mostly entirely of family and friends. But it was still pretty overwhelming.

Just before things got started two of my friends showed up dressed as pirates. Let me tell you, I live a strange life that I can have friends who happen to be in the neighbourhood dressed as pirates call me and ask if they should stop by. Of course I said yes (one of them, Scott, had been with me at Word on the Street, the other, Adrianna, added a nice feminine quality. Well as feminine as a pirate can be really . . .)!

Eventually it got to a point where we just had to get things started or people would start to get restless so I signalled Wendy and she gave me just a lovely introduction. Then my pirates carried me over to the table where I began my reading. Silly thing, started talking at the mic, thanking everyone for coming and got completely overwhelmed and started to cry. I was so not expecting that, but when you are staring out at a crowd of people who are all there because they want to show their support, friends, family (all my grandparents and their siblings and their children and cousins and and . . . ), along with several Scholastic folks, well it's a little hard not to feel a bit overcome.

Nonetheless I recovered I think rather admirably, and did my reading.

Afterwards I signed books for I think an hour, the line was long and I had to chat a bit with everyone, as I knew almost all of them. It was a bit too bad that I couldn't talk and hang with them for longer, but I still think the whole thing worked out really well.

As things were clearing out, one of my friends mentioned that two of my friends had been driving around the parking lot for half an hour (told you it was packed) which was why they were late and so I stuck around to wait for them. They showed up as we were cleaning up and I was so grateful that despite it all they still came. So they gave me a high five, we chatted for a few minutes, and then they left. What a way for them to spend a Sunday afternoon!

And then it was over, an hour and a half after it had begun. That's what people call a whirlwind!

Special thanks to everyone at Indigo, you guys were amazing and so helpful! The Scholastic folks, Denise who helped set up, and all the others who showed up just to show their support! All my friends and family, and of course my mom and dad, but (daddy I'm sorry) especially my mom, who really did organise everything - coordinating everything with Scholastic and meeting with Wendy, not to mention getting all the food and decorations, it really was her party! Thank you so much!

Also, I wanted to add that I got to meet Heidi the hick and her hicklettes and it was AWESOME! I love the blogosphere. And can I tell you that it is very odd she likes to hide her face like that because it is a very pretty face and should be shared with the world. Anyway, Heidi, it was great to meet you!

And last but not least, to the Ironic Gentleman, thank you very much for the flowers and survival kit. It was a complete surprise when Wendy presented me with them! (though I really am dying to know who you actually are, so PLEASE tell me!)



It was a pretty darn good day.

And now. . . pictures!!

My friend Ashley showing you all the food table.

My lovely focus group, Heather, Wendy and Harry.

A section of the crowd all paying rapt attention to my amazing reading.

Me rapt-ing my amazing audience.

Me signing and feeling rather overwhelmed.

Me and Wendy (from Indigo) and my two fab pirates!

Political Rant

Yes politics and religion, best not to talk about in polite company, and an odd thing to find discussed on a blog devoted to acting and writing. But I have been feeling very strongly about a recent vote we had here in Ontario and just had to share my opinion with y'all.

I hope you don't mind the digression.

On Wednesday we had a provincial election (we elect Premiers here in Canada). But that isn't really what has got me a bit peeved. What has got me a bit peeved, is that at the same time as we were electing a party to run the province, we were having a referendum. And this is what gets to me, because this referendum was incredibly mismanaged.

First off, very few people knew there was a referendum happening in the first place. I've heard people say things like, "And then there was this extra piece of paper . . . "

And Second, people really did not understand the issue. Which is understandable because watch me try to explain it to you now. The referendum was a vote for whether or not we should change the current way we elect members of parliament. The new version was called MMP: Mixed Member Proportional.

Let's have Wikipedia explain what that is:

"In this system, a voter casts two votes - one for a candidate (or 'local member') and one for a political party. The local member is elected in a first-past-the-post style election and represents the electoral district, while the political party vote determines, in conjunction with the number of elected local members belonging to each party, how many list members a party receives. A list member is a candidate on an ordered list that a party issues before the election; if the MMP formula determines that a party can have more seats than it won locally, it receives a "top up" number of list seats. Under this new system, the Legislature would have 129 seats: 90 local members (70% of the Legislature) and 39 list members (30% of the Legislature)."

Basically there are two ways you can vote (okay I am sure there are more, but for my purposes . . . ) One is you vote for the person you vote for, and whoever gets the most votes wins. Makes sense. This is called "First Past the Post".

BUT, what is John Smith gets 51 votes, and Annie Doe gets 49? Well yes John Smith technically won the election but almost half the population wanted Annie. And then what if in other ridings the same thing happens, and occasionally Annie's party wins some seats, but not as many as John, so that it is still possible that in the end, Annie could have actually had MORE votes than John despite his win.

The "Popular vote" decides the election by actual number of votes cast per party and in such a case, Annie would have won.

The MMP new way of voting would have combined the two ways of voting.

Okay, so there are pros and cons and I have seen sites devoted to why you shouldn't vote for MMP and why you should. I'm not saying MMP is the answer or even what people had to vote for.

My point: Very few people knew there was a referendum, and those that did, didn't understand what the heck the question was about. I know of people who went into the booth, looked at the question and went, "Well I don't know what all this is about, I guess let's just keep it as is" and that was why they voted the way they did.

This was the first referendum Ontario had had in 83 years!! And no one understood, or cared, or even knew about it!

And I put the blame on the media (sure they are an easy target but hear me out). I know every detail of Britney's custody battle, but darn it if even I can explain the MMP thing clearly (and I understand it!)! They tried, there were some television ads that told people to go to a website to read about it (yeah . . . right . . . people are going to do that . . . ), but the MMP thing should have been there all the time, being shoved down our throats so we were getting sick of the topic. Instead . . . well instead it was barely a blip on the radar.

So we get a really pathetic referendum. Yes on the surface: the people voted no. But that isn't what happened. The people voted "I don't know" or "what are you talking about?"

And that's just sad.

Political rant over.

Thank you.

And yet more links . . .

Okay so I'm just showing off now, but in case any of you are interested:

I was interviewed by Allie Boniface over at her blog: Allie's Musings

Also I mentioned how in St. Louis I did a radio interview with the head of the Big Read by phone, well I found the link here. It is around twenty minutes long so be warned . . . .

And now I am getting ready to do a reading at Rosedale Heights again. I really enjoyed my first time back in February, the kids were really supportive. Fingers crossed it's just as great thing time!

And the Adventure continues . . .

Okay. So the whirlwind which was this extra long week has finally come to a close. Not that there still isn't quite a bit coming up in the near future, but man, I have to say, I'm pooped.

Also it isn't exactly like this extra long week was particularly painful. It was, dare I say it, down right pleasant, and as always there is much to share. So, let's get sharing!

The week continued with Wednesday, many weeks do tend continue this way, nonetheless . . . Wednesday evening was the Scholastic Canada dinner at the Gardiner Museum (a ridiculously convenient location for me to get to). It was really lovely, and I got to meet many another author and bookseller. But the highlight for me would have to be getting to chat with Gordon Korman. I loved his books growing up, and when I was little could not get over the fact he was first published by Scholastic at 12. We spoke a bit, can't really remember about what as my internal dialogue was, "I'm talking to Gordon Korman, I'm talking to Gordon Korman, OMG I am talking to Gordon Korman!" And then he signed a copy of his latest book, Schooled, for me, and then . . . tee hee . . . I signed a copy of mine for his kids!

Then I flew out the next day to St Louis Missouri to attend the Big Read Festival.

Toronto being consumed by a thick fog off Lake Ontario. Cool huh?

St Louis was hot. And I was told, unseasonably so (though as I write this Toronto is having its hottest Thanksgiving on record, so I guess it is happening everywhere). I spent the first night hanging out in my room, and then going to bed early as I was visiting schools the next day.

The next day proved to be even hotter, and I was very proud of myself that I had packed so well for the trip - that is summer dresses etc. So I met this lovely woman, Lisa from Left Bank Books who was going to be driving me to my first location, down in the lobby and she informed me that we had to wait for Peter Brown. Now for those of you who have read a lot of this blog, you will remember that Pete is my artist pen pal from New York who is the author and illustrator of the Chowder book series (his latest, The Fabulous Bouncing Chowder just came out). I knew he was going to be at the festival, but I didn't know when I'd see him so it was so cool that we were being driven around together.

We drove to Pete's school first, dropped him off, and then continued to Central Elementary where I got to speak to a gym full of kids. I spoke. I read. We did a Q and A, and it was really fun. The kids were very enthusiastic, as were the teachers (one of them had been reading my book to his class, which was so cool!).

I was supposed to do a radio interview next, but the person who was supposed to pick me up got lost and then ran out of time so had to go to the interview without me. But fear not, the amazing Lisa managed to still get me on the air via telephone. Now it is rather difficult to do a radio interview by telephone. You have no idea if they can hear you, if they want you to stop talking . . . really odd. But I think it went well, and it was pretty fun!

Then I was picked up by a Big Read volunteer Lauren, and we went for lunch, and then she drove me over to Maplewood-Richmond Heights Elementary, where I had to do three presentations in a row. I was concerned how overwhelming the experience might be, but the kids were so enthusiastic, and really sweet, and they all wanted my autograph (yes some rock stars sign certain body parts, I sign backpacks). I wound up having a wonderful time.

Then I was driven back to the hotel by one of the teachers and I just lay on my bed in utter exhaustion. Pete, his girlfriend Vinnetta, and I had considered going site seeing in the afternoon, but it turned out that he too had had a heck of a day so instead we agreed we'd just go for dinner. We went to this really great tapas restaurant called Bar-celona, get it get it? We showed up around 6:30pm and got a seat on the patio. We must have come just at the right time because maybe half an hour later the place was packed and there was a long line waiting to get in. It was such a nice night, the sort of night you totally forget about the weather because it is the perfect temperature.

Pete and Vinnetta at the tapas bar.

We parted ways a couple of hours later, Pete was doing his thing at the Big Read at 9am so he needed to crash, and I watched some tv in my room and went to bed.

I had to check out of the hotel at noon, so I stored my bag in the lobby and went for a brief meander around the Big Read, saw Dorothy Hamill talk in one of the tents, and then met up with the other two authors - Sharon Shinn and Vicki Grove - who were on the Girl Power Hour panel at 2pm with me. I was nervous because I had no idea what I was going to talk about but fortunately neither did Sharon or Vicki. We chatted a bit, figured out a game plan, and then were introduced. We each talked and read for 15 minutes, and then answered questions.

Then it was off to the airport for a long trip home by way of Charlotte and a slightly uncomfortable taxi ride back to my apartment where the driver informed me that this was his first day back after three years. You see he had gotten into a head on collision and spent 3 months in a wheel chair and still got anxiety attacks. Yes it is impressive how well he recovered, and really horrible what happened to him . . . but I don't really think I need to know those particular details of the driver who is navigating his way along the newly slicked roads from the storm that just passed.

But I made it home safely, and have lived to blog about the tale here today.
_____________________________________________________

Just a reminder that this coming Sunday (October 14th) at 2pm, I am doing a book launch/signing/reading thing at Indigo at Yorkdale Mall here in Toronto.

Also I apologise for the lack of me on Etalk. I keep getting bumped so I can't really tell you when I'll be on. However that interview I did for Space, while it hasn't aired on TV yet, you can listen to some of it on the Space Podcast here - just scroll forward just past the halfway mark (though you can listen to the whole thing, the Space podcasts are pretty cool).

I've been a busy girl!

And rather remiss at posting! But I am sure you will all forgive me once I share with you the details of the week I am having right now.

The week actually started on Friday for me when I was flown out to Providence Rhode Island for the NEBA Trade Show. The plane I was in - 18 seats. Yes. One row of nine seats, an aisle, and another row of nine seats. And no flight attendants so that the co-pilot announced: "If it's too cold or too warm or anything, just knock on the door and let us know!"

Oh and also propellers attached to the wings that were so loud you really couldn't talk to anyone.

The whole plane. I was sitting in row one. This is it folks.

And the view from my seat. The cockpit. Yup, I was practically flying the plane myself.

Anyway, I get into Rhode Island, and a driver is waiting for me holding a sign with my name. He was a really nice guy, used to be a prison guard, and we had a lovely chat. Then I arrived at the hotel, had some room service and then went to the trade show to sign books.

I'd been slotted in for 2:30pm and while I didn't have a huge line like the other authors next to me, I signed consistently for the full half hour. It was fun, and the people I met were really nice.

Then I went back to my hotel and continued to watch the America's Next Top Model marathon I had been watching over lunch (and by marathon I mean a marathon of episodes from a few seasons back, not a marathon with models running or anything, though I think that could be quite amusing, especially if they were doing it in high fashion. And heels.). Then I got ready for dinner with some bookbuyers etc.

Artsy picture of me in my hotel room.

I met Katie and Camille (from Weinstein Books) along with Vincent (Vincent Lam, a fellow author who I talked about back at the BEA thing, he won the Giller, the big book award here in Canada, and is now being published by Weinstein in the states), and we all walked over to the restaurant. We sort of stood around waiting for people to show, and then when they did we had a really lovely time. Amazing food, and everyone was chatty (though I have to say when I started on about Shakespeare, I kind of took over the conversation for a while. Gave a bit of a lecture really - ah well).

Then the next morning Vincent and I flew home (he's from Toronto too) together, in the SAME PLANE (same pilot and everything). And my parents drove us both home from the airport (my parents really like giving rides to people).

NEXT

The next day was Word on the Street, a book festival that happens in Toronto once a year that takes over an area of downtown by the university.

My name on the list of authors reading!

I was doing a reading at 5:30pm, which is right at the end of the day and I was worried I wouldn't have an audience. So I had asked some of my friends if they would mind dressing as pirates and wrangling an audience together. My friends really like being pirates. They have their own costumes, and weapons and did their job brilliantly well!

But before the reading I met up with my publicist girl person Jessica at the Scholastic booth and she showed me to the VIP section for authors (yes. I know. VIP. Me.). Which is when she had to go back to work so I was all alone feeling silly, and finally just had to jump in the midst of a group of guys who were standing chatting right next to me. They were all very nice, two of them are artists (of the graphic novel variety) and gave me a copy of each of their books - Infinite Kung Fu by Kagan McLeod, and Monster Cops by Chip Zdarsky. I have to say after a quick perusal of the books, the gents are pretty darn talented.

Then I met up with Sherri Vanderveen, author of Belle Falls (and someone I had met on AW) and her friend who is also an author. We chatted about writing, and the crazy world that is our industry, and had a really lovely time. Then I had to go meet my pirates (who had been roaming about the event promoting my reading - darling boys) and go to the Children's Reading Tent.

My pirates totally pulled through for me. When I sat down there weren't that many people there, but my pirates had gone off to do a sword fight and then bring the kids over to me, and they totally did! So I was thrilled that I actually had kids to read to and not just my family (who also turned up and of course it was great that they did, but I mean . . . you want the kids, that's after all for whom the book was written!).

I did the reading, I think it went very well, and then signed a few books. And then that was it. And I was pooped.

NEXT

THEN . . . . yesterday I had two TV interviews. And I was terrified. Yes I am an actress, but playing yourself is really different and scary. Also I had never done a TV interview before, so I was worried I'd just go on, or talk to fast or . . . Anyway, in the end they both went well (I mean, I had a good time, I have no idea what the finished product looks like or anything) and if any of you guys are in the vicinity check out ETalk on CTV at 7pm tomorrow (Wednesday), and SPACE sometime next week (the podcast should be up sooner - I'll link to it when the time comes).

I'm not sure if I am brave enough to watch them myself though.

ALSO

MY BOOK OFFICIALLY CAME OUT IN CANADA YESTERDAY!!!! And yes there is something anti-climactic about it seeing as I've seen it in the bookstores for a week now, and have signed many of the copies, but it's still pretty darn cool. So there were some celebratory drinks last night as well.

So that's what I've been up to so far!

Tomorrow I am going to a dinner at the Gardiner Museum hosted by Scholastic, and then on Thursday I fly out to St Louis Missouri for the Big Read Festival. So you see, I truly am a busy girl! And I hope you can forgive my poor blogging habits of late!

xoxox

Guess what's finally made it to Canada!

Note how well my friend Joanna manages to indicate both the sign at the top and the books on the bottom - a natural book model!

She did it so well, I just had to join her!

And yes you saw correctly, it's on the Best Kids Books Ever table (though, let's be honest here folks, where else should it be put really?)!

Yes it may be a week early, but Alex is starting to find its way to bookshelves here in the country where I was born and raised and live in and love so much!

And my friend Joanna and I just had to track them down! Of course when we did I made a point of signing all 12 copies that they had, and then Joanna had to walk by the shelf and pick up one of the books and say loudly, "Hmm this looks good!"

It was totally amazing. Felt more real I think than any of the releases so far, simply because I am in the correct country this time. And mom and dad also managed to make their way downtown to check it out later that same afternoon! They were happy. Really really happy.

Sigh. Life ain't so bad.

_________________________________________________

On another note I am going to be signing books at two different festivals this weekend for anyone in the vicinity.

The first will be this Friday at the New England Independent Booksellers Association Trade Show in Providence, Rhode Island at 2:30pm.

The next, at Word on the Street here in Toronto (Queen's Park), this Sunday at 5:30pm (I'll also be doing a reading, as well as a signing, and I have a couple pirate friends who will be hanging out with me as well!).

Also, I'll totally remind everyone of this closer to the date, but October 14th, which is a Sunday (and not the Sunday of the long weekend for those Canadians out there), I am doing a reading/signing/mini-launch [though we are not allowed to call it that] thing at Indigo at Yorkdale Mall at 2:00pm. There will be food and beverages [of the non-alcoholic variety], very kid friendly the whole thing, and it should be a really good time, so please do come along if you are in the neighbourhood!

A Really Lovely Review

Just wanted to link everyone to a really lovely, and well written, review over at BuddyHollywood.com written by Alice Loweecey (who is an author in her own right). So check it out: Review

And also if you are in the mood here's another good one at Amazon.

People may not always see it, but there is a real skill required to writing reviews. Many just summarise the novel without offering an opinion, or others just offer up opinion and you have no idea what the book is about. And some people just don't know how to string a sentence together. These two ladies not only get it right, they manage to do it in a relatively concise and clever manner (and they like my book, which is simply a mark of their excellent good taste!).

Props ladies, serious props.

Alex and the Ironic Gentleman out TODAY in the States!

Yes all, today is the official release date for Alex and the Ironic Gentleman in the U S of A!! So exciting!!! And of course I am totally in the wrong country for it! So again I request pictures of your glamorous selves and the American version of the book, and if anyone can get a shot of the book in store that would be awesome!!

Also, for those of you who have read the book, I am sending people over to Barnes and Noble and Amazon to write such oh so fabulous and glamorous reviews (cheeky of me, I know - I would do it myself but I think that might be a conflict of interest, besides I'm not so sure how generous I'd be towards myself . . . did you ever get those teachers in school who asked you to grade yourself? Man I hated those . . . anyway . . . ), so if you feel up to it, or are bored at work, or need an opportunity to procrastinate from writing . . . I would be so grateful! Thank you!

Ooh, even more exciting . . . I was also interviewed over at the Writerly Pause, so go check it out! We had such a good time, such a lovely group of people, and genuinely excited about books (some being authors in their own rights). Thanks guys so much again and, as Pat put it, you rock!

Now for a few more pictures of lovely readers!

First we have Heather [and her cat], a fellow Canadian and part of my original focus group when I needed help editing the book. Look how intensely she reads, it's because I am sure she is reading a very intense moment (not posing for the camera at all . . . ).



Then we fly across the ocean to Germany where I present to you all the first evidence that, yes, the German version of my book does exist in hard copy, and yes still has the world's best title. Holding said tome is Mira, the daughter of a friend of fellow AWer Sharon! Doesn't she look thrilled to be in possession of my book (and isn't she just adorable! And doesn't my book look HUGE in her hands?)!




I really love these pictures, so please keep them coming! And of course I won't post anything without your permission - but come on, who doesn't want the fame that comes with being featured on The Temp, The Actress, and The Writer? Exactly!

The Agent, The Minder and The Editor (and Me!)

Okay get cozy because it's time for another long tale!

So I have just returned from the UK and I had a lovely time! The first half of my trip was devoted to seeing old friends and visiting old haunts. I also got to go for lunch with my agent Julia at an amzing Italian restaurant. It was so great to see her again and to talk shop. But I also just like hanging out with her as we always have a fun time together. And we always seem to go for good food as well. Go us!

During this time I did make a point of seeking out my book in a bookstore as as we all know I hadn't had the privilege of walking into a bookstore and seeing the book on my shelf. So now to add to all the photos of other people with my book, may I present me with my book!




And me and my friend Sarah looking thoughtfully (and slightly suspiciously at my book):




It is a slightly surreal experience walking into a store on the other side of the ocean and seeing your book and your name on the shelf. Also it's kind of wonderful!

Okay back to story. The second half of my trip was devoted to the book and stuff. On the Monday night I was moved into a beautiful hotel, The Montague, right around the corner from the British Museum, and a truly awesome room.

Yes no one else was in the room and yes this was taken on a timer.

Here are more pictures of truly awesome room. From many angles.

Bed with very high ceiling and canopy

Little desk nook area with railing and stairs.

The stairs.

View from bathroom up towards nook.

After a lovely evening which involved a visit to the Museum, a conference call with my American editor, the most awkward dinner ever where I was the only person in the whole dining room and the wait staff kept peeking around the corner to check up on me, a bath, and watching City Slickers, I woke up bright and early the next morning to meet the lovely Alyx from Scholastic for our trip to Manchester.

Can I say, it is odd having a minder. I have always considered myself pretty independent and stuff, but I have to say when you have someone else taking care of all the details for you, you really start to feel helpless without them. And I mean I was only with her for two days. Imagine being super famous with an entire entourage. Kind of makes you understand a bit better how those superstars can make really big mistakes when on their own. Kind of. Sort of. Not really though (speaking of mistakes, can I say the thing that has got to me about that whole Britney Spears performance fiasco, aside from how sad it was, was how everyone was calling her fat. I'm sorry, she might not be as skinny as she was, or as toned, but she is simply not fat. And I am angry about that. Ehem.)

Anyway . . .

We get on the train and head up to Leicester. On the way we chat a bit, she's really cool, and I constantly look over her shoulder at her typing on her Blackberry.

"Who are you writing to?"
"What are you writing about?"
"Who are you writing to now?"

Actually one of the people she was writing to was Philip Pullman with whom she was organising stuff with regards to the film release of "The Golden Compass" based on his book series "His Dark Materials" (the trailers look gorgeous! As does Daniel Craig who is in it). That was pretty cool.

Then we arrived in Leicester and we went to the Borders there where the greatest class of kids were waiting for us. Some even dressed as pirates! So I talked to them about how I wrote the book, read a little (the fencing scene, and I demonstrated some of the positions for them), answered some questions, and then signed some books.

Action shot. Yes even my hair gets involved.

I think we all had a pretty fun time. I know I did, and the kids seemed to laugh a lot.

The whole thing had been organised by this girl Ria who had contacted me through this blog and I have to say she was just amazing, and big thank you to her once more, the whole event was just lovely.

Me and Ria.

Then Alyx and I were back on the train for Manchester where she helped me prepare a ten minute little talk for the book buyers. When we arrived I got to hang out in my hotel room for a bit, kind of get a second wind. Here is a picture of the hotel room.



And then Alyx came and fetched me and we went to a hotel right across the street where some Scholastic folks were doing a presentation of the winter/spring line-up to the book buyers and where I would talk for the last ten minutes (as they are releasing my book in paper back in the spring). So I went in at the end of the talk and spoke for ten minutes, and I think actually managed to speak for just ten minutes. I was so proud of myself! As we all know I have the tendency to just go on and on . . .

Then we had a lovely dinner with the book buyers (who were all really nice and enthusiastic), and then off to bed again.

Next day Alyx and I went around to sign stock in Manchester. Signing stock is basically going into a store, signing books, and then leaving. It isn't like a proper sit down signing or anything. Then we returned to London (a 3 hour train ride which is about as much time it takes to get to my cottage in Canada, but in the UK is crossing the country), and signed some stock in London before meeting up with my editor Elv, and agent Julia, for an evening of dinner and theatre. I had suggested Spamalot, and I have to say it was rather good. Some of the jokes didn't quite work (as in they would have made more sense on Broadway as opposed to the West End) but it was really funny, lived up to the movie, and definitely ended better than the movie did. Oh and for any Coronation Street fans out there, you know evil Charlie? The one who just was so horrible to all the women on the street? He played Lancelot!!!! When he bowed he got boos, and I'm pretty sure it didn't have anything to do with his performance (he was pretty good), just that he was evil Charlie!

Julia my agent, Alyx my minder, and me pointing at programme by way of indicating we were at Spamalot. It is important to point at things like that, otherwise indicating becomes much more difficult.

Checked into new hotel. Room looked like this.




Next morning had an editorial meeting with Elv which went really well (and she seemed very excited about Timothy!) then we went for sushi.

Elv contemplating Sushi.

Then back to the Scholastic offices.

Me and Elv at Scholastic

View from Alyx's office (of King's Cross St Pancras).

I answered some questions on this online community for schools thing called Superclubs Plus. All the kids had read the book and I had like 8 pages to get through (which I couldn't actually get through so the girl who was helping me said she would email me the rest of them) and then a telephone interview with Nikki Gamble of Writeaway. And then I went with my new minder Camilla (Alyx had to go to Eastbourne and help prepare for her sister's wedding) to Harrods where I signed yet more stock. And even though it was just a stock signing they set up a pretty red table for me.

Camilla and Me and little red table of books.

And then I learned about "sign, line and date." Do you know what that is? Cause I had no idea. The woman at Harrods had to explain it to me. Evidently a book is more valuable if the author has signed their name, dated it and . . . written the first line of the book into it.

??

Do any of you guys know why that is? I was thinking maybe it went back to when manuscripts were hand written initially, so that when the printed edition came out you would have a mini-version of the original copy. But I don't know it that's right.

Anyway did it for 40 books. Was very proud of myself. I also know the first line of my book off by heart now.

And then that was it! I met with my friend Heather in the evening for dinner and Harry Potter movie. Returned to the hotel to get up bright and early to get to the airport the next morning.

It was a great time, but really quite tiring. Still I want to thank everyone at Scholastic for their wonderfulness, I felt very well cared for indeed.

And it's quite nice to be back, physically in Canada, and also virtually here on the web! There ain't nothing quite like home really.

Phew. I did it! I finished the story! Now I have to go upload all the photos. Sigh, a blogger's work is never done!

A Quick Jump Across the Pond

Hey all!

So I will be doing one of those hiatus things again as I go across to the UK for 10 days to see old friends and promote the book. Mostly industry stuff, but I will be doing two public event thingys if anyone is in the neighbourhood and wants to say hi:

Tuesday 11th Sept - Leicester
11am - Schools Talk @ Borders Books and Music

Wednesday 12th Sept - London
3pm - Signing @ Waterstones in Harrods (Knightsbridge)

Of course you can all be guaranteed of pictures and the world's longest blog entry upon my return. Until then, I shall miss you all as I ever do, and as Red Green would say, "Keep your stick on the ice!"

More Pics!

Keep 'em coming!

Here we have the lovely Madeleine (don't you think she looks a bit Scarlett Johansson - ish), another AWer, MySpace buddy, and author in her own right!

Here she is reading thoughtfully.

Here she is stunned by something completely unexpected that has just happened in the book.

But what is it? You'll just have to buy the book and read it to find out! (oooh . . .burn! Hey look, I'm allowed to be a shill for my own book okay?)

Reviewers

Ah I know what you are thinking, I've been burned and feel the need to vent. Or I am over the moon at something someone wrote about me and just want to thank them in my blogging way.

Well you is wrong!! On both counts! Ha!

This is simply something I've been thinking about for a while, and something I find very interesting as well as ridiculously obvious. And I just thought I would write about it today.

And this is what it is:

Reviewers are people too.

Amazing discovery isn't it?

But this is what I mean. I had always understood this concept on a theoretical level. I had always gone to see the movies I was interested in and read reviews with a critical eye. I discovered which film reviewers I usually agreed with and therefore could read their articles with more faith in their observations (Richard Crouse here in Toronto, like he's totally awesome. I even met him once and I was actually star struck - he's one of my favourite film reviewers definitely). But it never really came to me just how subjective reviewing really was.

Yes yes, there are those films and books out there that get generally the same ratings across the board, but more often then not, I am finding that the difference between one review and another, well, is a matter of taste.

As an example I offer myself up on a silver platter. A few years ago I produced and directed A Weekend in the Country at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Two days into the run a reviewer came to see it. And he loved it. Not only did he love it, he was kind of obsessed with it. He happened to run into a few of my cast members at a club that night and was just gushing to them how much he loved the play, he was practically star struck in their presence. The next day he wrote a brilliant review and we had it for the full month to put on our posters and publicity materials. We got subsequently more great reviews, and one or two critical ones (which even then, concluded they still liked the play - yes okay I'm qualifying, I know), but none quite as wonderfully enthusiastic. We were lucky. We were lucky this guy had been assigned to our play, and not someone else from the same paper. We were lucky that for some reason our play was exactly to his taste. And because of such luck, we had been given the gift and ability to advertise ourselves using such a glowing review.

It could have easily happened the other way around.

But reviewing is not only dependent on personal taste, but the pre-conceived ideas that the reviewer may bring with them to the work even before they have experienced it.

I am reminded of a story my mom tells (okay and the details might not be perfect, but the idea remains the same), how at a dinner party once, everyone was served lemon sorbet for dessert. Right away people were making faces and looking at their bowls with suspicion, and someone asked, "Has it maybe gone off?" The hostess frowned and went into the kitchen. She returned moments later and said, "Would it taste better if it was banana?" Everyone tried again. And suddenly with the knowledge that the sorbet was not lemon as they had all thought, but banana, it was greatly enjoyed and I'm sure some even had seconds.

And such is the same with reviewing a book or a film or a piece of music etc. Sometimes, and it isn't an excuse, sometimes the reviewer simply was expecting something else. Again if you are lucky it turns out the same way as the sorbet scenario, them loving it despite at first being slightly disgusted. But sometimes you get the reviewer who neglects to go back into the kitchen to discover the sorbet is actually banana.

Of course this is doing a slight disservice to reviewers, in saying they are not able to see beyond their own taste or pre-conceived ideas. There are excellent reviewers out there who are able to appreciate a genre they do not like in general (my playwrighting teacher, Djanet Sears, was amazing at this. She was able to critique your piece, and work with it within the boundaries of your writing style and genre, and not try to turn it into her preferred style). And at the same time there are occasions when it doesn't matter what the genre, the work is pretty darn bad and deserves to be panned.

But I do think as artists we must remember these simple facts of taste and pre-conceived ideas. The reason is two fold.

The first is to stay sane. That is, if you have produced something you really care about, and have worked on it quite critically (usually with other people), and truly believe it is the best it could be, or at least feel proud of what you have produced, then there shouldn't be any reason a bad review can get to you. Because reviewers are just people too as we have now learned.

But it also teaches us how to be critical and good reviewers of our own creations. That when we look at what we have done, we ought to remember our taste versus that of our audience. And to attempt to wipe away the pre-conceived ideas we might have looking at our work. To see things with as fresh an eye as possible (it is impossible, I think, to be truly objective about something you create though, so don't go crazy trying to). To not get too precious about what we produce.

And to be honest with ourselves that sometimes, what we've done, eh it's not so good. It might be banana, but you know what? Banana sorbet? Personally? Not so much.

Honey! I'm Home!

Yes I have returned to the blogosphere! And I have to say, I don't know about you guys, but it feels really good to be home.

It also feels really good not to be in a lot of pain anymore.

Can I just say that when people tell you, "At least you've got your health" when really you are pissed off because you've just been dumped or there is no more cake or something, well it takes going through something like wisdom teeth removal to understand how true that phrase really is. But even more than that it makes you admire the people out there who are dealing with things ten times as worse, with medications that are ten times more intrusive, and man, props, serious props to all of them and for their ability to maintain sanity. I honestly don't know how they do it.

Let's just say, I'm not the best patient. For many many reasons, but mostly because I am not the one thing that the role requires. Patient.

Anyway. Back to the world of writing and the books and news etc. Today we'll start off slow as I do have a nice little rant I would like to do tomorrow. So for now, some pictures and a link:

Yes we have a couple more pictures of people and MY BOOK (please folks keep 'em coming) this time from Ireland (one of my wonderful and glamorous blog readers):


And Scotland (fellow blogger and AWer Nichola):




And next a link to the NY Post who this past Saturday listed Alex as a "Post Potter Pick" which I have to admit, is just a tiny bit kinda cool.

Anyway, hope you are all in good health, seriously I can't even tell you how much I mean that, and I gots to say, I really missed you guys! Thank you so much for all the well wishes and wisdom teeth empathy! Oh and I just had to repost my analogy that I wrote in the comments section comparing postpartum play depression and wisdom teeth removal because it is simply brilliant:

Doing a play is a bit like getting your wisdom teeth removed. There is a lot of pain and effort into the doing of it, but then it gets done, most often successfully, and then all that remains is a hollow emptiness.

Thank you, thank you.

Postpartum

It happens to almost all people involved in a play. It doesn't matter how much work the whole thing was, or how many things may have gone wrong in the lead up to the show, or how there were days you just wished it would all be over, in the end, it's all rather sad when it's done.

Yes Summerworks ended last night. And A Weekend in the Country had it's last show that afternoon. I have to say it was a rather brilliant run. Great houses, amazing audiences who just laughed and laughed (we can only as assume with, not at, us) and of course stellar performances from my amazing actors.

Oh and lots of blood getting all over the place!

Heck we even had a fan who wanted autographs from everyone after the show!

And then we celebrated with a very long party that went from the afternoon through to the wee hours of the morning.

All in all, a good thing.



I will miss it though.



Now it is all about focusing 100% on the writing! - but probably a bit of a hiatus with the blog entries as I am getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow. Oh. Yay.

Hugs to you all!

What is the name of the deadly pirate ship that Alex chases?

I have been noticing in my "recent keyword activity" that strange phrase popping up every now and then.

Now what the devil was going on exactly? And why did all these people not want to read my book and find out the answer, as opposed to googling it? And darn it what was the incentive to find the answer anyway?

Well turns out this is: Competition

It is truly cool to be a part of a competition that you yourself didn't organise. A serious honour.

And so I thought I would help out, just a bit. The answer is easily found in my sidebar to the right, over there . . . a little further down. . . there you got it!

I will give one further hint:

Look at the American title.



Oh heck fine, the name of the ship is . . . oh and I am afraid we are all out of time here at Adrienne's blog! Please join us in a few days when she goes on for probably too long about what it is like to have a play go up in Summerworks! Until then, have a great day folks, and remember if it's not a blog it's probably someone's personal diary and you should put it down right now!

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