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We’re in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and so much has been turned upside-down. My heart goes out to children, teens, and young people who have had to adapt to huge changes.

I’ve had the pleasure of reading and reviewing some fabulous Canadian children’s books in the last few months: 1) Story Boat, 2) I Will See You Again, and 3) Song for China. Click to read the reviews in Quill & Quire.

I landed a one-year, full-time contract at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in October. It's very exciting and I'm working with great people. Everyone there is incredibly smart and cool and there are chalkboards EVERYWHERE! I really do mean everywhere. In fact, only the washrooms don't have chalkboards.

Beginning with a description of a girl climbing a fence—using simple language, and with a sense of in-the-moment immediacy and raw intensity—readers may wonder at first if this could pass as a young adult novel. When a nun yells, “Get off that fence,” and it’s apparent that the fence is an enclosure around a residential school and this unknown girl—an Ojibwe—is trying to escape, the harrowing aspects of this coming of age story begin to take hold.

It's official. The Bank Street College Centre for Children's Literature has released its "Best Books" list for 2014 and Phenomenal Female Entrepreneurs (published Sept. 2013) is on the list! I know I mentioned this in an earlier post, but now there is a link to the pdf for all the age categories. Click "Nine to Twelve" and scroll through to page 14 to find my book.

Inside state-of-the-art classrooms and spacious libraries, students listened attentively and volunteered eagerly. “If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?” they asked. Young children peered up at me with delightful grins when I kicked my legs high to the beat of my lollypop drum.

September 18th is here at last. It's launch day. The day that Phenomenal Female Entrepreneurs squeezes proudly onto a shelf at a bookstore near you. And the day that I have a cheery celebration with family, friends, neighbours, and members of the community at Novel Idea Bookstore in Kingston. Yes, it's sure to be an all-round happy day, filled with celebration.

After all that hard work, and tremendous team work with the editor, Kathryn White, and the talented crew at Second Story Press, it's time to welcome a new book to the world and watch it take flight.

“It’s not really work when you’re doing something that is serving a greater purpose.” – Nicole Robertson, media specialist and entrepreneur featured in this book.

Spring and fall are the choice times to schedule school book talks. The weather is more predictable for longer commutes, which means fewer snow days and cancellations. By this time of the school year -- June -- students are longing for summer. Classes take on a more celebratory tone with outdoor poetry lessons, strolls around the neighbourhood, and large-scale art projects, such as painting murals for graduation ceremonies. Fall marks the start of the school year and is a-buzz with enthusiasm, planning, and bountiful ideas for an exciting year ahead.

I'm not a playwright.

I finished writing a play this week. A play? Yeah, I know. I'm not a playwright, or didn't used to be.I'm not sure if completing a draft of a play makes me a playwright or not. Of course, it took me years to accept that I was a real author, too. It's that old insecurity complex that plagues authors, young and old, experienced and inexperienced alike.

Mmmmm. This is a celebratory apple pie that I baked.

That's A - P - P - L - E. My (almost) six-year-old helper put the letters on top. Thank you, Noah!

First, I'm very sorry for the delay in blogging. I've had too much going on. Ai-ya, where do I begin?

I was reading the December 2012 issue of Quill & Quire and saw a quote by Howard White that resonated with me. In responding to a question about the future of Canadian publishing, he says, "...we need to keep the faith." Then he raises the glass of water analogy: "I think one of the most damaging things that's happening to publishing right now -- and to writing -- is that people are looking at the empty half of the glass." I'm going to keep this analogy in mind over the next while and consciously try to talk more positively about the book biz. Why not?!

Eat locally. Read locally. I like it.

I have to say, I think this is the coolest thing. We've all been hearing about the importance of shopping locally and supporting local farmers for several years now. Then, the 100-Mile Diet evolves with families, chefs, and restauranteurs seeking fresh, local ingredients for their dinner tables. And now this new twist: the 100-Mile BOOK Diet. (If anyone knows why it is "miles" not "kilometres," please let me know.)

I'm excited (and slightly terrified) to share some great news! I've been invited to speak at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival on September 16th, 2012. The festival runs from noon until 6:00 p.m. If you live in southwestern Ontario, you might want to add this date to your calendar. Treat yourself to a relaxing and inspiring day in a bucolic village.

I wrote these poems for my two library talks for young children during Canadian Children's Book Week 2012. Poetry is such a fun diversion, but -- man! -- it can take a long time to craft them just right. Let me know what you think!

In celebration of Canadian Children's Book Week, Young Kingston authors are creating a bit of a buzz in the downtown. Kingstonians walking down Princess Street can admire the window display at Novel Idea, Kingston's independent bookstore.

The window features books by several members of Young Kingston, including Y.S. Lee, Ann-Maureen Owens, Mary Alice Downie, Peggy Collins, Leanne Lieberman, Sarah Ti-Mei Tsiang, and me.

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A cat’s vision is about this many times better than yours.

My last blog posting provided a CBC link to a program about the future of book publishing. Following from the panelists' discussion, I'm sharing a piece I wrote a while ago:

The Scholastic Book Fair is at my children’s school. I shudder. Don’t get me wrong. I love books. I write children’s books. I’m all for promoting literacy and getting kids enthused about reading. In addition, as an editor, I adore Scholastic. They are my best client. Their deadlines are reasonable; they pay me in less than three weeks. So, what’s the problem?

I was dazzled and delighted to find two copies of Dazzling Women Designers in my mail box yesterday. What an amazing surprise! These didn't look anything like my other copies, though. They are Korean translations. The cover looks completely different, as does the inside -- and I don't just mean the text. Many of the photos are new and they have more photos showing the designers' work. The cover features fabric designed by Senegal's Aissa Dione and India's Ritu Kumar. I spotted a photo of R2D2 in the profile about robot designer Cynthia Breazeal.

Great news! You'll never guess what I discovered in my email in-box last Friday (Jan. 27)! Dazzling Women Designers (Second Story Press, 2010) is on the Amelia Bloomer List 2012. This news totally made my day!

A little research unearthed more details about what this list is all about. I feel truly honoured. The Amelia Bloomer Project, which is part of the American Library Association's (ALA's) Social Responsibility Roundtable Feminist Task Force, annually selects the best feminist books for children and teens, published within the last 18 months. Librarians from public and university libraries across the U.S. make up the ten committee members who read many, many books and make the final selections.

My husband found this Space Invaders post for me. This has been one of my pet peeves ever since I started editing 24 years ago. If you are a writer and want to impress an editor in a simple way, make sure you add just one space after each period -- this is the correct format! Really! And while I was checking out the Slate website, I came across this tongue-in-cheek piece about e-textbooks: click here.

I had the pleasure of visiting Victoria in September. It was work-related, and that aspect of the trip was fantastic. When a colleague recommended a coastal walk and directed me to the trail, I knew how I was spending a couple hours before dinner. This photograph shows my toes—yes, my toes—in the Pacific Ocean. Don't you just have to submerge at least part of your body in water while visiting a coastal town, especially when you live inland? Well, yeah, you better believe it!