Book Expo Canada

Am blogging in the shadow of the CN Tower after a full day in Toronto. (My hotel is the tiny little brown building to the right of the base of the tower in the picture.) Got in this morning at 2:30 am and after a few hours sleep, hit the ground running. It's been a GREAT day, with lots of excitement in the works -- more details when I can. I shared the stage today for a brief while with a number of other authors as the Canadian Children's Book Centre sponsored a reading of some of their 'Our Choice' authors from last year. SHADES OF RED was an 'Our Choice' selection, and I had a lot of fun listening to the other authors speak about their work. Plan to chase down several to get them to sign their books for me!

Met with my wonderful agent, Carolyn Swayze, for a non-coffee chat after she'd been to the Christie Blatchford breakfast. It was great fun to see her, particularly since we both had to travel 3000 km to do so.

Ran into Eric Walters and was able to thank him in person for the great blurb he wrote for Ms. Z. I caught him signing at at least three booths today. Prolific man --and _really_ nice guy.

Many celebs from the CanLit world to be seen wandering around today, not to mention a Stockwell Day sighting in the airport. How could my day be any more complete?

Dinner with a goodly percentage of the CompuServe Writer's Forum KidCrit crew. I met several of the group for the first time in the flesh and it was great fun. Anita Daher is here celebrating SPIDER'S SONG and RACING FOR DIAMONDS. Marsha Skrypuch is celebrating the impending arrival of her DEAR CANADA book about the Spirit Lake internment camp. Marina Cohen was signing at the Vanwell booth. Helaine Becker was signing today for Maple Tree Press and tomorrow will be back to sign some of her many titles for Scholastic. Mahtab was celebrating her very first book --THE THIRD EYE, with Dundurn. Nancy, Helene and Deborah made the evening complete.

The Spring Book Hatching went off yesterday without a hitch. (Well -- the coffee arrived a little late. But that was it. So no hitches that couldn't be bourne....)

Will have SBH pictures and more detail soon. I have once again run out of day.

~kc

DEADLINE Approaches

Worked all day today (with the exception of a couple of hours spent viewing a boy's lacrosse game from atop an eliptical trainer, thereby killing two birds with one treadmill) on meeting the DEADLINE deadline, which is, in fact, tomorrow.

I am touching wood as I type this (which makes typing darned difficult, I have to say) but I think I may finish this thing tomorrow. Not finish--finish, but finish. (I could articulate this more succinctly, but the writers among you know what I mean, and the non-writers must know by now that the writers are nuts anyway, so there we are.)



Got the absolutely marvellous news yesterday that MS. ZEPHYR'S NOTEBOOK will be delivered on Tuesday to Dundurn. Much planning of launches and readying for this week's Spring Book Hatching, trip to Toronto, CCBC event at Book Expo Canada, Dundurn signing at same and meeting of many friends and compatriots throughout next weekend. (The image of the book tower, left, is courtesy of the Book Expo Canada website...)

All of this predicated on achieving above DEADLINE deadline -- so in order to facilitate same, this is it for now. (Forgot to mention that whilst watching the lacrosse match and pedalling rapidly nowhere, I also read the latest David Sedaris story in the New Yorker. The undisputed highlight of the day.)

~kc

Book Expo Plans

Last year, SHADES OF RED, (the final novel in my Eagle Glen trilogy) was selected by the Canadian Children's Book Centre as an "Our Choice Selection". This made me eligible to promote my new book with them this year at Book Expo in Toronto.

Travelling east for three days may, to some people, seem a little extreme in exchange for five minutes of book promotion, but some authors will do anything for a little face time. So, I'll be there. Watch for my reading at the Canadian Children's Book Centre area at around 1:20 in the afternoon. (Since I'll have flown all night to get there, you'll be able to pick me out as the only sleep-reading author present.)

Edited to add that I have just found out my good buddy Marsha Skrypuch will be reading from her book shortly after me. (I think she will be reading from ARAM'S CHOICE, her latest marvellous book.) You can be assured Marsha will NOT be sleep-reading.

More details closer to the time.

~kc