Monday, August 31, 2009

What's Up With That?

Why is it that both

a) inspiration for two new story premises
and
b) inspiration for how to revise two different wip pbs

comes at a time when I'm crashing up against deadlines for 2 wfh projects which have to be squeezed into the hours between

1) back-to-school shopping for the kids that I haven't started
2) ferrying multiple kids to multiple activities
3) staving off exhaustion by trying to get some sleep
4) squishing in those omigod-where-has-the-summer-gone and I-haven't-even-done-this-yet activities

all while fighting off an allergy induced fog or, if I break down, an allergy-med induced haze?

Sheesh!

(Yeah, so why am I here doing this even?)

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Camoed Caterpillar

I went to check on my black currant bush to see if some of the currants were ready to be picked when--surprise! I noticed this weird camouflaged caterpillar. Lucky I saw it before I touched it. (Shudder)


What the heck kind is it? I haven't been able to find out. Is it even a caterpillar? Wish I knew.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Wicked Weather

Boy did we have some thunderstorms yesterday early evening! Downbursts, tornado warnings, heavy downpours. I heard the booms and crashes, however I must admit I missed most of it because my girls and I were watching the Hannah Montana movie in the basement. Maybe that was a good thing.

I did catch the post storm show. The aftermath in the sky was beautiful...

Thursday, August 20, 2009

New Review

I love Google Alerts. This one came in yesterday:

www.canadianteachermagazine.com/reviews/non_fiction/Lets_Go.shtml

A lovely new (or new to me) review for Let's Go!

Are you an author? Ever tried out the Google Alert thing? It's a wonderful way to find out when something about your book is posted online, or at least when Google finds out about it.

When you set up the alert, make the keyword(s) your book title. So long as you're not offended when you see it auctioned on ebay, it's fascinating to see where it pops up!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Suspended Sneakers

Yesterday evening and again this morning, I couldn't help but notice the proliferation of abandoned running shoes, or sneakers, in town. Okay, so two pairs perhaps doesn't constitute a proliferation, but if one sighting is odd, what does that make two?

And these shoes weren't simply lying on the sidewalk or tossed to the side of the street. Both pairs were prominently displayed as if someone wanted them to be spotted by all passing motorists. Tied together by their laces, one pair was hanging from a hydro wire stretched across a main road while the other was suspended from the horizontal arm of a traffic light at a popular intersection. Hmmmm.....

Is there a secret movement, um...afoot?

Monday, August 17, 2009

SCBWI Canada East Agent's Day

Putting on my volunteer job's hat for a moment. Why not come to Ottawa to find out all about what agents do?

Agent's Day 2009!
September 26, 2009
Library and Archives Canada
Ottawa, Ontario

Featuring:

Mark McVeigh, Literary Agent, Founder of The McVeigh Agency, New York
Edward Necarsulmer IV, Director, Children’s Department, McIntosh & Otis, New York

For more information and to register, see the Events page of the SCBWI Canada East website for the conference brochure and registration form.

Spread the word!

Monday, August 10, 2009

Stick? No, snake!


This little snake was sunning itself on my driveway. It was hard to spot because it looked like a stick until I got a really good look at it.


I live in a highly forested area, so I see a lot of sticks on the driveway. Er... at least I always thought they were sticks.

Better start paying more attention to those supposed sticks.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Whitby Weekend

So this past weekend we're at the Ontario Lacrosse provincials in Whitby for number one son (yes, I know it's Wednesday already...so the summer goes). It's a big deal in the Ontario lacrosse world.

We wade through crowds and cheer ourselves hoarse. We smell smells that have no place outside a locker room but, well, that's what you get when it's hot and kids in heavy protective gear, which has to be used over and over again, run around and run around and run around more in a confined space.

At each arena we thread our way through the parking lot to the door. I'm seeing all sorts of stickers on cars that flash support for this home team or that home team. There are numerous pictures of lacrosse sticks: singly, two of them crossed, oriented horizontally and oriented vertically. I read slogans urging me to hug a ref. I am informed that it takes balls to play lacrosse.

When we pull up at, like, the fourth different arena of the weekend, the car beside me is sporting this sticker:


No kidding. We had a good laugh.

Driving around with that on your bumper? I think that takes balls.

[And the home team? Made it all the way to the semi finals but was stopped there. Not bad! Hawks rock!]

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Book Week Website

The new website for this year's Children's Book Week is up!

It's simply www.bookweek.ca and it's a great resource of everything you want to know about it.

And since I wrote this year's TD Grade One Giveaway book, rumour has it that I might be doing a bit of travelling too.

I'll spill when there's something to spill!