Fab New Website

Wow two posts in as many days! Girl's on a roll!

Just wanted to share with everyone the exciting new version of my website that went up recently. Designed by my amazing friend Joanna Blackman, I think it is so amazing! It isn't completely finished yet, still some tweaking required, but please do check it out, and then report back what you think. If you have any suggestions or anything, I would love to hear them!

Also just a reminder again about my reading/signing tomorrow afternoon:

TYPE Bookstore Danforth
503 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
OPENING WEEKEND CELEBRATION
Saturday May 31, 1:00 pm
Reading

First Pass Proofs

It's amazing how time passes and things become habit and that which once was terribly exciting can become old hat.

Still.

I have to say it was pretty darn awesome to receive my first pass pages of Timothy today.



For those not in the know, or who haven't combed through my archives (and why haven't you and shame on you for not reading all my glorious posts) and read my explanation from last year, first pass proofs are printed pages of your manuscript in the cool sexy final font, organised as if it were the final book, with cover page, copyright page and in this instance a page that says, "Books By Adrienne Kress" with Alex being listed:




That is totally wicked awesome. I am the author of not one, but TWO books, and I have a list to prove it! Okay it's a list of one other book, but it's still a list. I also love the font Weinstein Books uses, it's all romantic old booky looking.

And it's times like these that you remember just how lucky you are, and how crazy that it is that you are an author, a real live author. And, in your cheesy way, you take a picture of your first pass pages.

I don't know if I will always feel this way, if the feeling will diminish. Certainly certain things aren't as exciting as they once were. Book signings are fun, but less incredible, less - OMG why do these people want my autograph? Meeting authors is still totally awesome, but more the norm than a singular event. Going to conventions still gives me butterflies, but I now know what to expect.

Well who knows. Can't predict future feelings.

All I know is that right now the feeling looking at these pages is just as fresh as it was this time last year.

And I'm glad for that.

BEA

BEA stands for the Book Expo of America. It's a huge trade show for the publishing industry, all concerned with buying and selling, can be rather overwhelming, and it begins this week. Last year I went with the lovely Lesley and we had an absolute blast. This year the BEA is in LA (as opposed to NY last year), making it a little more costly for yours truly to attend, so I will not be going. This makes me a bit sad as I had a totally awesome time last year. So I've decided I would link to my synopsis of last year's event, just for those of you who are new to the blog and didn't read it, and also out of nostalgia because that's the sort of person I am:

Adrienne and Lesley's excellent BEA adventure of 2007 (you will note that since that trip Lesley now has a two book deal with Harper Collins - amazing what can happen in a year!)

I shall however be attending the Book Expo of Canada in June, signing copies of the paperback version of Alex (details to follow closer to the date).

And this Saturday I will be participating in the opening weekend celebration of the new bookstore Type on the Danforth, so do come along if you are in the area:

TYPE Bookstore Danforth
503 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
OPENING WEEKEND CELEBRATION
Saturday May 31, 1:00 pm
Reading

Ole!

Yes my plans for world domination are slowly but surely coming to fruition.

I would like to announce to all and sundry (because Sundry is one of my most loyal blog readers), that my fabulous agent has just sold the world Spanish rights (excluding the USA) of my book to Editorial ViaMagna!

What makes this deal especially cool is that now I share a publisher with the amazing Patricia Wood (of Lottery fame, who is also celebrating her 55th birthday today, mazel tov!), and I just think that is so darn fantastic.

So, let's order a pitcher of Sangria and celebrate!

Ole!

My Publisher

Another short post folks. I really should be in bed actually, have an early call for rehearsal before we open with our first show at 1pm. Still . . .

Thought this was cool.

As many of you will know my American publishers are Weinstein Books. Despite the fact that they used to be Miramax Books for quite some time, technically they are a very new company. So for the last several months their website, while informative, has been a little . . .shall we say . . . on the skimpy side.

Well it would seem that is no longer the case. I just checked it out, and they have an absolutely beautiful site up and running now, and of course featuring yours truly!

I will also add to this post that the release date for Timothy and the Dragon's Gate has been moved to January 13, 2009 (though it will probably be available in December - yay weird book industry weirdness). I am pretty happy with this change as it allows me a bit more breathing room with the edits for one thing, and for another, I don't much like the idea of my amazing work being upstaged by something as slight as this election thing going on south of the border. . .

Lastly, for anyone who has just been dying of curiosity over what exactly Timothy is about, there is an excellent summary of the story over at the new Weinstein website. If you are interested, do check it out here!

Sorry again for my poor blogging habits folks! I'll try to do better once the show is over. In the meantime wish me break a leg for tomorrow! (yes I've done the show twice before, but it's always a little different and we are in a new theatre)

Sorry

This has been a long tough week folks, and I just have not been in the right head space to post. However, I did write an article for Hardcore Nerdity, so if anyone is missing their Adrienne fix (and how sweet if you have!), here's the link to my article about the novel Watchmen.

Again, sorry for being MIA. I'll try to do better next week!

Hardcore Nerdity!!

It's alive!!!!!!!!!!


Yes it is time for the great unveiling! May I present to you all:

The Ultimate Destination for all your Nerd Needs.

Your mission – should you choose to accept it – is to get with our Nerd Herd as we dig down deep into the world of genre to bring you exclusive insights, interviews, scoops, reviews and rumors, along with some of the coolest behind-the-scenes tidbits and unexpected treasures unearthed from the deepest darkest corners of the SF/F jungle. We cover genre from all angles – from ink on a page to pixels on a screen and all that’s in-between – and we back it up with input from entertainment-industry professionals with seriously authentic geek cred.

Check out the Escape Pod, our weekly podcast hosted by Mr. Jonathan Llyr, with Rob Salem and Simon Evans. This week he talks with screenwriter David Hayter who gives us the skinny on the highly anticipated film Watchmen.

Don't forget to also visit the awesome bio page, where we fab contributors are displayed in our comic book glory!

(see post below for more Hardcore Nerdity details)

New Job

I mentioned it before on my Ad Astra post, but I thought I'd talk about it again. Cause I want to. I am now a part of a new website called Hardcore Nerdity which launches on Thursday, and I have to say it's already been a huge learning experience.

For those who may not remember the synopsis:



Hardcore Nerdity is the pet project of Mr. Jonathan Llyr. Some of you may know John in his former role as an on air personality for the Space Network. He's since moved on from the channel but now he and several colleagues are starting this amazing website. Contributors include the incredible Rob Salem (if you are Canadian you will have seen his articles in the Toronto Star and, well, everywhere), the effervescent Simon Evans (another Space veteran and former MuchMusic producer/presenter), myself, the lovely Lesley, my good friend Casey Hudecki (fight chick extraordinaire), along with the friendly folks over at angryrobot.ca: Nadine, Toku and D. If you have any nerdish leanings this will be the site to check out. John has serious nerd connections. The site will feature a weekly podcast, articles, interviews and original comics. This week's podcast is awesome, beginning with a seriously lively and hilarious chat between John, Rob and Simon, and featuring an interview with the amazing David Hayter, screenwriter for X Men and X Men 2, about his working on the screenplay for Watchmen.


Okay, back to me and my learning experience.

First of all I am interviewing people. I mentioned my fear of this before, but it is something I have never really done before. It's weird, because a lot of my friends work in television and are extremely proficient at the interviewing, but it's a world I know very little about. I've always found interviewing a terrifying prospect. Not so much the interacting with other people, but the responsibility that comes with the role. Here you are, one chance to talk to someone of note in an industry you find interesting, and if you ask them the wrong question or forget to ask them something important, that's it, you blew your chance. I am a fan of the "re-do". There really isn't such a thing with interviews.

At the same time, I find interviewing very exciting. I love doing the research about a person ahead of time, learning all this interesting stuff about them, really getting to know someone. I also like the actual interview, the conversation. So I think I'm totally into this interviewing thing, even if it still scares me a little.

I'm also writing articles for the site, and that is something new as well. Now I like to post to this blog at least twice a week, and that has given me a good sense of how to handle deadlines, but it's interesting writing articles within a certain framework. In this case the SF/Fantasy genre. I feel like I am writing essays again, much like my post on Magical Realism. I am quoting people, and having a thesis, and it's been ages since I've really written anything like that. It's been a challenge definitely, but fun.

So it's been an interesting new job, and the site hasn't even launched yet!

With that in mind, I wanted to ask my loyal readers, for their help. I am posting an article twice a week at Hardcore Nerdity, all in the SF/Fantasy realm - books, tv, film, comics, gaming, whatever - does anyone have any article suggestions? Anything they would like me to investigate, or write about? I already have an article on Battlestar Galactica and Watchmen, and I am sure I can come up with more considering I have opinions on everything, but it would be cool to see what kind of stuff you guys would think would be cool!

Time for more rehearsal pics . . .

Yes ladies and gents, the ever popular production of Macbeth by the ever fabulous Tempest Theatre Group is back in town! And you know what that means . . .

Artsy black and white rehearsal shots by yours truly!

(just for a change of pace, considering we've been rather "author" oriented lately)

Robbie Westgate (aka King Duncan) napping in the corner. I enjoy this picture because of the windows and the reflection on the floor. You may have other reasons to enjoy it. That is perfectly acceptable.

The fab Mr. Steven Burley (aka Malcolm) in a snazzy hat. Beside him sits Phil Borg (aka Ross) having an enthusiastic chat with the ever lovely, Ms. Lesley Livingston (aka Lady M).

Our ever so talented director and the Mr. Mac himself, Jonathan Llyr. I believe at this moment he was discussing his plans for the show with Mr. Burly from the above photograph.

And a little change of pace, yes, an actual colour photograph, of the "happy we finally have sun and warm temperatures" Ms. Casey Hudecki (aka Second Witch). Note the awesome sunglasses.

And tagged again!

And no it isn't a tag back which as we all know is so illegal.

No. This time I have been tagged by Sue Eves with a really neat one.

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and post a comment back to Sue's blog (she's the one who tagged me - you will in turn nominate the person who tagged you - ie me) once you've posted your three sentences.

So . . . nearest book . . . that would have to be . . . (aside from my own) . . .

Under the Black Flag by David Cordingly, a non fiction book about pirates.

Page 123:

"Mower was a Boston man, thirty years of age, "of short stature, thin favoured, and dark complexion," and he had good reason to be worried. No sooner had the pirates taken the ship than they decided to force Mower to join them. The methods which they used left him with little choice."

So now I tag (again):

Lesley Livingston

Catherine J Gardner

Heidi the Hick

and . . .

Holly Kennedy

David L McAfee

I love blog tag!

Well every once and a while it happens that I get tagged by another blogger. In this case it happened the other day when djpaterson appeared in my comments section.

So thank you sir for the tag! And now I shall proceed to share with you all:


6 (more) Random Things About Me

1. Guylian chocolates are my favourite (the ones shaped like seashells? Yeah those ones . . .).

2. My window by my computer looks out onto the brick wall of the apartment opposite with the exact same kind window staring back. But it isn't a perfect mirror image as it is slightly further north than mine is. And I have no idea why that is.

3. I love making business cards. I get very artsy doing it. My favourite kinds are the ones that are glossy on one side.

4. I love art history. In university I wanted to double major in it, but the drama portion of my degree was just too time consuming.

5. In that line of thinking, I adore Toulouse Lautrec. Specifically his poster art.

6. I hate shopping, but I love new clothes. This is a problem.


Now I have to tag six other bloggers, but to be honest I just can't think of who today - head is a bit fuzzy. So I am instead tagging these three (half of six, so I figure it still works with the play on numbers):

Lesley

Heidi

Catherine

Rules:

· Link to the person who tagged you.

· Post the rules on your blog.

· Write six random things about yourself.

· Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blog

· Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

· Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

Talking to Teenagers

Tuesday I went to a highschool and spoke to a group of around 80 teenagers about writing. It was actually the same highschool where my father (who has since retired) was once head of the English department, so that was cool.

I was really nervous.

I hadn't spoken to teenagers before.

Know what I learned?

It's a lot like talking to adults.

And a lot like talking to kids.

Okay yes there are differences between all three groups, and I'll elaborate on them in my next post (because I think they are interesting), but this post is a moment of revelation post.

So this is the revelation:

I'm starting to think people are just people.

Yup, pretty sure . . .

It's nice.

And yet more Ad Astra pics . . .

I am obviously on some kind of picture binge. Anyway, the lovely Lesley sent me a few more pics from Ad Astra that I thought I would share (Doug you will be happy to see we have an auction pic finally!)!

Enjoy!

This was really special. Lesley happened to run into her good friend Darth while we were at the convention. It was such a coincidence he was at Ad Astra as well! I don't think she had any idea he was coming. It was a really special reunion - man the stories they had to share . . .!


Me and my friend Scotty (who you have seen several times on this blog as his pirate self, and who also lent me the steampunk goggles for that photo a few posts down). I am wearing a pirate hat. I think I would make an awesome pirate! Except for all the killing and stealing. I'm not so into killing and stealing . . . but aesthetically . . . I think I could rock the pirate thing.
(man the flash of the camera really washed out our faces!)


And finally me and Lesley all glammed up for the Sunburst Awards Auction. You will note we are attempting to auction off our own books. We have no shame.

My book in the Philippines

Here is an awesome photo of my book in the Philippines courtesy of the Bibliophile Stalker (appropriately named it would seem).



Now I know I know, how exactly can we prove that this photograph was indeed taken in the Philippines. Well we can't. But that is what faith in our fellow bloggers is all about. At any rate, thanks so much Mr. Tan for sending the pic my way!

I also thought I'd post this pic of my book in Germany that I was sent quite a while ago but totally forgot to post! It too is awesome (it's the book in the centre with the orange spine)!




This is probably a good time to remind people that I will always be open to pictures of yourself and my book in any and all countries. If you are wearing an enjoyable costume, so much the better. Just make sure when you send the pic you also send permission for me to post it!

I do so love my super secret spy blog readers! I highly doubt anyone has such super secret spy blog readers as I do!

Some Ad Astra pics . . .

And here as promised are some pics from the event (Ad Astra). These are just from my camera, so there aren't too many seeing as I was rather busy. And none of me and Lesley as our glamorous auction ladies (sorry Doug, soon I hope). But I hope to collect some from my fellows that I will be able to share with you all soonish.

So:

John Llyr (looking confused), Peter Halasz (looking far away) and Scott Bakker (looking fuzzy)


Scott Bakker looking less fuzzy. At least in the picture. Cannot speak to his emotional or mental state at the time.


Nadine and Chris from angryrobot.ca (Nadine is showing off her sound equipment and Chris is taking a picture of me at the same time as I am taking one of him.)


Me making sure to take a picture of me proving I was there, or at least pretending to be there by showing up at the hotel at the exact same time the convention was going on.


Jim C Hines reading from his book at his book launch. Just moments before I and my 7 points won a prize. Yes I like reminding people I won a prize.


Julie Czerneda, Lesley Livingston, Rebecca Moesta and me at our panel for writing for young people.


Julie hosting the launch for Misspelled, while Lesley (in the grey t-shirt with the batman logo on it) looks on in fascination.


Me wearing a pair of Steampunk goggles belonging to my pirate friend Scotty. They is awesome.

And the follow up report . . .

So as you all know last weekend was the Ad Astra convention and I have to say it was an absolute blast. I hope to get some pictures soon, but for the moment you are all just going to have to settle for the narrative.

I started out Saturday morning as the lovely Julie Czerneda's assistant teaching a writing workshop for young people. I have to say it was really cool. I've taught a fair bit of drama to kids, but I have never really taught writing. Julie on the other hand has. And she rocks it. We had around 8 teenagers show up, and they were so enthusiastic about writing and SF/Fantasy and it was just so special. They did some group work where they chose an object and had to brainstorm story ideas. Then they chose one to elaborate on. And then Julie made them keep the same story idea, but gave them a new genre. Very interesting to see what they came up with. Winged Rats From Outer Space is my new favourite title!

After that I reprised my prize girl role for the Sunburst Awards Auction with the ever lovely Lesley Livingston (who has a very lovely new website designed by my very lovely other friend Joanna - check it out!). We of course looked fabulous, more glamorous this time I think. Oh and we raised a fair bit of money for the auction as well!

The rest of the day was chatting and hanging out with folks in the bar. I met up with authors Scott Bakker, Robert J. Sawyer, Caitlin Sweet, Steve Perry and Jim C Hines again this year and went to the book launch of the latter's third book, Goblin War. He had this game going where we had to collect goblins (drawings of goblins on paper) from different people at the convention. I only got 7 points. But I still got a prize! So I was happy. Not so happy as the kid who won first prize who got a GORGEOUS signed print of the cover art.

I actually wound up interviewing Jim for a podcast for a website that the sensational Mr. Jonathan Llyr is launching May 1st called Hardcore Nerdity (another awesome title, man this blog is filled with them today). Side track on Hardcore Nerdity for a second:

Some of you may know John in his former role as an on air personality for the Space Network. He's since moved on from the channel but now he and several colleagues are starting this amazing website, and if you have any nerdish leanings this will be the site to check out. The man has serious nerd connections. It will begin as a feeder site off of Angryrobot.ca, and then when the content builds up, it will take the training wheels off as it were and be on its own.

Anyway, I'm going to be a part of the whole thing, as I must confess to having quite nerdish tendencies myself. And that's why I got to interview Jim! And it was my very first time being an interviewer and I was super nervous, but I think I actually did okay! Besides Jim and I get on really well, so we really just had fun with it. Well you can judge for yourself sometime in May (and you'd better believe I'll be promoting me).

Back to Ad Astra:

I interviewed Jim in the afternoon on Sunday. In the morning though, Lesley, Julie, Rebecca Moesta and I had a panel of writing for young people. At first I was sad because there were all of two people in the audience, but after we began it started to fill up nicely until it was quite well attended. I think we did pretty well, and after a slow start we got some good banter going. It was a lot of fun, and I always find it very interesting to listen to other authors talk of their experiences.

Almost right after was the book launch for Misspelled, an anthology that several characters from this blog post were involved in. Both Lesley and Jim had short stories in it, and Julie was the editor. It was great fun, and they added a theatrical bit to it that is a bit to complicated to explain so I won't. Then they had cupcakes. And I like cupcakes.

But it was also really special because, okay, now Lesley is this big time two book deal Harper Collins author, but her story in the anthology was her first official sale. Not only that but it is the lead story in the book. So it was really special seeing her sign books (she signed mine!), and I dunno, it was cool.

And then the weekend was over and I was pooped.

All and all, a good time. Gots to say. A good time.

Ad Astra Convention 2008

As some of you may remember from this time last year, I participated ever so briefly at the Ad Astra Fantasy/SF convention here in Toronto as a prize girl.

Well not only am I reprising my role, but this year I will also be sitting on a panel and doing a workshop for young people. If anyone is in town this weekend or is going, please let me know as I love to meet people in person (Ms. Hick can attest to that)!

So here's the info:


March 29th - 30th, 2008 - TORONTO, ONTARIO
Ad Astra SF/Fantasy Convention

Young Writers Workshop (Saturday March 29, 11am - Salon 243)*
"Julie E. Czerneda and Adrienne Kress will be running the workshop. This free one and a half hour workshop is for Ad Astra attendees from the ages of 11 to 17. The workshop is free of charge but participants will need to register in advance. Spots are limited so please contact programming (at) ad-astra.org if you'd like to register."

Sunburst Awards Auction (Saturday March 29, 1:30pm - Reflections Room)*
"The Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic is a juried award based on excellence of writing. This auction raises funds for the award. In the past they have auctioned off items such as a signed copy of Neil Gaiman's novel Fragile Things and a character named after the winning bidder in a Cory Doctorow novel. Come check out the exciting goodies this year!" - hosting along with Lesley Livingston and Peter Halasz

"Writing for Young People" - panel discussion (Sunday March 30, 11:00am - Salon 241)*
- also with authors Julie Czerneda, Lesley Livingston and Rebecca Moesta

* times and locations subject to change

Rejection

Rejection. It sucks. It truly does.

As writers and actors we have a heck of a lot of it, and, at least for me, it stings every time. It's very difficult when the product is something so personal. With acting, you are trying to basically sell yourself, and with writing you are trying to sell something that is a part of you.

Now of course we all cope in our different ways. Some deal with it matter of factly, it's business not personal. Some rage against the machine, telling everyone how much the industry sucks. Some sit quietly and mope.

And while some coping strategies may be better than others, I have always believed that the most important thing is to understand the pain.

This is what I have learned after years of acting and the whole writing thing. We are human beings. We feel sad when things don't work out. We can also feel angry, hurt, confused . . . even scared.

And there is nothing wrong with that. At all.

I feel sometimes we waste so much time beating ourselves up for feeling these feelings, that that in itself keeps us from moving on, past the pain of rejection. We live in a society where we have been told it is weak to cry. We are in businesses where others will note, "But you knew getting into it it would be really hard" and so we are not supposed to feel bad when the predictable happens.

Yeah, grand, whatever. We still feel what we feel. Whatever the feeling may be.

It's important, at least for me, to understand that no matter how I feel right now in the rejection state, I know I will not give up. This is a great thought to have because it then doesn't matter that you feel lousy now, or that you are full of self pity, because in the end you know that you aren't about to give up or anything. You're just being indulgent.

And that to me at least is the key. Instead of pretending the emotions don't exist, or being ashamed of them, I say indulge them. Not for a long time mind you, but take a day to just feel lousy. Vent to a caring friend. Cry into your pillow. Do whatever you need to do to purge the unhelpful feelings. Because then it's out. It's like, pardon the analogy, throwing up. Sometimes we consume something that is toxic to our system and our bodies automatically vomit it back up. And we feel better. Well "vomit" up the toxic emotions, lay them bare.

And then move on.

That is also very important.

DO NOT WALLOW.

There is nothing good that comes from wallowing.

The next day do something really proactive. Send out more queries, write a blog entry, write a novel, learn a monologue. Force yourself to feel that things are still somewhat under your control.

Of course this is only my coping strategy, some people have ones that suit them better. My point though is the solving of the problem comes not with the question of: "How do I stop feeling bad when I get rejected?" But rather: "How do I get past the emotions I inevitably feel when I get rejected?"

It's about acknowledging that you are human and feel things. Icky things. And then learning how to get past and cope with those icky feelings. Not get rid of them. But, in a really weird way, befriend them.




Now, I think it's time for others to share their coping methods! Don't be shy, we can all learn from each other!

Smart women . . .

I like Natalie Portman. Let me say that right from the off. Let me also stress that nothing I write in this a-typical blog rant is meant to in any way diminish her talent, her brains (she went to Harvard for crying out loud), her beauty, and all her other qualities which I am unfamiliar with because I don't know her personally.

I like Natalie Portman.

This rant has nothing to do with her.

It has to do with the cover of this month's Elle magazine.

Natalie Portman is featured on the cover, looking lovely, with the headline: NATALIE PORTMAN IS ONE OF THE SMARTEST WOMEN WE KNOW, WHICH IS WHY SHE'S PERFECT FOR OUR INTELLIGENT WOMEN ISSUE!

I read this headline while in the corner store, and I actually took pause and read it a few times. I couldn't help but laugh. Because, yes, I am sure Natalie Portman is very intelligent, but come on. I think we need a bit of a caveat there.

NATALIE PORTMAN IS ONE OF THE SMARTEST WOMEN WE KNOW - who also happens to be stunningly beautiful, a big famous film star and has a movie out right now that she needs to promote.

See I don't mind when a magazine lives up to its promises of superficiality. I'll read up on the latest trends in skirts like anyone else. Heck sometimes I buy Vanity Fair just for the pictures (I've even tried to emulate their style with my cast photo from last summer's production). But when the idea is to sell what is beneath the surface (in this case intelligence) by so obviously still using the surface to truly sell the message . . . I get a bit frustrated.

So I was all set to get irate and frustrated with the state of the magazine world, when suddenly it occurred to me . . . my goodness. Maybe Natalie Portman is one of the smartest women Elle knows. Then I had a lightbulb moment. It's not Elle's fault. Maybe they just travel in very different circles than, let's say, I do.

If only Elle had asked my opinion on the subject. If only they had asked me for a list. I could have rattled off woman after woman, all utterly brilliant and well worth being a cover girl, and Elle wouldn't have had to lower themselves to using an obvious film star.

How about some ladies going for their PhD's and not yet 30? I know a fair few of those. Or are you more interested in helping others? I have a girl friend out there who not only got her masters in Equity studies, but who started her own theatre company that works with the disabled to create incredibly poignant and fabulous shows. I also know doctors and lawyers if you like the helping other people theme. Perhaps Elle has a soft spot for the arts, well I have a long list of authors, actors, directors, fight instructors/masters, visual artists, singers, dancers . . . if this list of choices is too daunting may I assure Elle that many of these talents can be found within the same person.

Hey, I hear the environment is a big buzz word these days, I have a friend doing her masters on the subject and practicing what she preaches all the way in New Zealand right now.

Or how about my mom. Seriously Elle, how about my mom?

Not only is she an amazing teacher, and knows basically every book like ever, she seems to know . . . everything. You ask her a question about religion, politics, why the sky is blue, and she has the answer. The right answer. Heck, if my mom doesn't have the answer, it's so rare it is shocking. And what is super cool is that she is more than willing to admit she doesn't know the answer and then help you find it. She is also a wiz financially. She just gets numbers, and how to invest, and is ridiculously smart about it. Add onto all that a whim of hers to be my manager of my writing career, something she has no experience with at all, and has somehow managed to book me onto television shows, and events and get me interviews, and just somehow knows what to do and who to contact . . .

Elle, I'm telling you, my mom, now that's one of the smartest women I know. Smartest PERSON, I know. Also she's hot, so she'd make an excellent cover model, if we must do the whole superficial thing. I'm not above being superficial, Elle.

But I don't begrudge you Elle, you didn't know that I knew these people. You didn't know to ask me. I mean come on, when you think about it, what is the chance that one person would know so many unbelievably smart women?

But next time Elle, give me a call first. I've got a list that would give you cover models for a couple years at least.

Being A Good Girl

I'm sorry I haven't been posting this week, but I am currently up to my knees in revisions and I think it makes sense if I am a good girl and just focus on those right now.

But I will post some more stuff next week (I have a couple rants building inside me, so be prepared . . .).

Lastly, if any of you are in the area I'll be reading and signing books at Casa Loma in Toronto beginning Saturday for their pirate festival. Here's the info!


March 8th - 16th, 2008 - TORONTO, ONTARIO
Casa Loma "Pirate Festival"

PIRATE STORY READINGS
The Conservatory 1:30 pm (20 minutes)

Join author Adrienne Kress as she reads from her book Alex and the Ironic Gentleman, the story of 10 and a half year old Alex Morningside who must rescue her grade 6 teacher, Mr. Underwood, from pirates. Please join Adrienne in the Gift Shop after the reading where she will sign copies of her book.