My publisher just sent me this great TV spot featuring McKellar & Martin Publishing Group! It was part of CBC’s “Cultural Secrets of Vancouver” series, and it stars spoken word artist Shane Koyczan, editor-in-chief/publisher Tonya Martin, and CEO/publisher Meghan Spong. And of course it features McKellar & Martin’s excellent list, including Fractured!
My book is ready for its closeup!
Posted in Fractured
The talented Maureen McGowan (author of such hilarious fairytale mashups as Cinderella: Ninja Warrior), has interviewed me over at Get Lost In A Story. If you’ve been burning to know which stereotypical clique I belonged to in high school (hint: I wasn’t a jock), or whether I prefer salsa or guacamole, head on over!
Posted in fairytales, Fractured, interview
How could I forget to post this until now? I know, I know–I’m a horrible person. Anyway, last week, the wildly talented iPad-addict Debbie Ohi was kind enough to interview me on her website, Inky Girl. Click here for the interview!
She even drew some fairy tale characters discussing Fractured! How cool. Debbie is illustrating a children’s picture book by author Michael Ian Black, called I’m Bored, coming out next year. Debbie’s story of how this project came about because of a previous rejection is an interesting one: read all about it here!
Posted in Fractured, interview
Tagged author interview, Debbie Ohi, Fractured: Happily Never After
Yesterday, my publisher sent me a nice review of Fractured in Resource Links, which was great to see. And then later that day, I received a tweet from @book_geeks (the talented Bobbi MacDonald from Book Geeks). She’d just posted a wonderful review of Fractured (click here to read it)! It was my favourite kind of review: detailed, enthusiastic, insightful. It totally made my day, and got me excited to get back to work on my next work in progress.
Writing is a solitary activity, and I’m a pretty sociable person. So it’s been wonderful to get to hear from my readers, and to know that people are reading and enjoying my work. I’m especially thankful to the YA book blogging community, for being so supportive of YA authors and introducing me to lots of great books. Book geeks unite!
Ok, I will admit that playing with the kittens and planning a wedding have both resulted in less time writing blog posts. But! I do have a few ideas germinating, so I will post again soon. (My goal is to post at least weekly.)
Some news: Fractured got another review, on My Book Thoughts! Part One. Part Two. She summarizes, “For fans of re-telling of fairytales I think this one is definitely a must and I’m glad I discovered it.” Yay!
Also, this reader found me on Twitter, which is awesome, and got my book from her library, which always makes me happy. (Not that I don’t want to sell books, of course! But I’m always thrilled to see my book in a library, and to know that it will reach even more readers.)
Two new reviews of Fractured have come in: one from Things I Think About, and one from Lauren at 365 Days of Reading. I’m so excited to see my book travel across the Internet!
So, how did everyone’s holidays go? Toronto escaped the snowstorms that incapacitated the east coast–even the light snow forecast for Christmas Day never showed up. I spent a quiet Christmas at home with Julian and the kittens. They’re settling in quite nicely, and I have high hopes that they will learn to stop stepping on our heads when we’re trying to sleep.
Here they are as reindeer, bugging Santa-Julian:
In book news, Fractured received a wonderful review from Pamela at At Home Between the Pages, and I was also interviewed by the lovely Claudia Osmond on her blog.
My big Christmas present this year was an ereader: the Kobo, to be exact. The first ebook I read on it was Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver.
Pros:
Cons (of ereaders in general and the Kobo in particular):
Do you have an ereader? If so, which one? What do you love about it, and what do you wish was different?
Posted in ebooks, Fractured, my kittens
Tagged ebooks, holidays, my kittens, reindeer kittens
I’m back in Toronto after a whirlwind book promotion in my hometown, Vancouver. Isn’t Vancouver gorgeous?
It was a busy visit. On Thursday, I dropped by the McKellar & Martin office to sign some books and chat about the Saturday launch. It was great to see the office, and I came away with a copy of Go Away, Unicorn, which is a hilarious picture book for non-girly-girls.
Thursday night, my mom had her book club over and they very graciously chatted with me about the book (they don’t usually read YA fiction!). On Friday, my mom hosted another party for friends and family, and we all spent the day catching up, chatting about books, and enjoying some tasty treats.
Saturday was the launch organized by my publisher, McKellar & Martin. The original venue was Coco et Olive on Main Street, but when we arrived at 9:15 am (the event was supposed to start at 9:30), the door was padlocked! As guests started to show up, my publishers got on the phone to find out what had gone wrong. It turned out that the owner had gotten busy at his cafe’s other location across town and wouldn’t be able to make it in time for the launch.
So my ever-resourceful publishers headed up the block in search of alternate venues. The Grind coffee shop was open, and very kindly agreed to let us have the event in their newly renovated back room. We left a sign on the old venue directing people to the new one, and thankfully we didn’t lose anyone in the location switch. Crisis averted!
There was a great turnout, and the illustrator Jenn Brisson and I had fun signing book after book. I wrapped things up with a short reading from the first story in the book: “Snow White and the Seven Dorks.” (It’s my personal favorite, although most people who’ve read the book say they prefer the Little Mermaid story, “Swan Song.”)
Here’s a picture that sums up my Vancouver launches:
Check out the rest of the photos on my Flickr account!
I’m back in my hometown: Vancouver, BC. The flight from Toronto is only about 4 hours but it always feels sooo much longer. I read Ali Smith’s The First Person and Other Stories, then a bit of She Loves You, She Loves You Not (an ARC I scored at NCTE), and then I watched the latest episode of Glee.
Today, I had lunch with my grandma and then headed to the mall to do my Christmas shopping. I only had five people to buy for: parents, siblings, grandma. I was able to finish up in a couple hours (yes, I’m bragging), so now I can relax and concentrate on promoting my book.
I’ve got two launches: one on Friday afternoon and one on Saturday morning. I’m looking forward to seeing a bunch of my friends, some of whom I haven’t seen in over a year or two. Plus I’ll get to meet the illustrator who did the art in my book, Jenn Brisson. Should be fun!
Posted in book launch, Fractured
Tagged book launch, Fractured: Happily Never After, Vancouver
Next week, I’ll be returning to Vancouver to celebrate Fractured with some book launches! Feel free to come on by, say hi, and get a signed copy of the book. (Hint: it makes a great Christmas gift!)
Richmond Launch/Open House:
Vancouver Breakfast Book Launch
Posted in book launch, Fractured
Tagged book launch, Fractured: Happily Never After, Vancouver
