Vancouver Writers Festival

The Vancouver Writers & Readers Festival is quickly approaching and I'm thrilled to be a speaker this year!

I'm presenting in an event titled, Magic Between the Covers, featuring picture books for children in Grades K-3. On stage with me will be Margriet Ruurs, author of Amazing Animals (and many other books), and Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark, creators of the famous Franklin books. I will be speaking about Watch Me Grow! To read up on our event, please go here.

On a related note, the teachers in our province are in a job action situation and, sadly, ticket sales to the Writers Festival are not as robust as usual. (Teachers and students make up a big part of the audience.) I received a message from Artistic Director, Hal Wake, letting me know that the BCTF has confirmed that field trips to the Writers Festival are still permitted during the job action. Hooray! I am posting part of Hal's message (see below) to help get the word out.

I look forward to the festival and hope to see you there!

Message from Hal Wake:

The Writers Festival Spreading the Word school events inspire students to read by introducing them to exciting writers from around the world.

The BCTF have confirmed that field trips to Writers Festival events are still permitted during the job action. Suggestions regarding the handling of money from Richard Hoover, Director of the Field Service Division at the BCTF are as follows:

• Principals, if willing, would be able to handle the collection of students' money.
• If not principals, there may be PAC representatives who would be willing to collect the money.
• If neither the principal nor parents can collect the students' money, let the Festival know and we will make arrangements to accept payment for the tickets after the job action has ended, when the money can be collected some other way.
• If all else fails, students would be able to pay for tickets themselves at the event, as long as the Festival has advance notice.

The Writers Festival still has lots of great events with tickets available. Please see below a full list of events with ticket availability. Visit www.writersfest.bc.ca for more information.

For more info, call or email Box Office Manager Allison Sullivan on 604 681 6330 x107 or boxoff@writersfest.bc.ca

Primary

Oct 18 (Tues) 10:00 AM Gr. K to 3 Franklin's Birthday Party

Oct 19 (Wed) 1:00 PM Gr. K to 3 Magic Between the Covers

Intermediate

Oct 18 (Tues) 1:00 PM Gr. 3 to 5 Fitting into the Family

Oct 20 (Thurs) 10:00 AM Gr. 3 to 5 Animals Big and Small

Oct 20 (Thurs) 10:00 AM Gr. 3 to 6 Family Follies, Family Love

Oct 19 (Wed) 10:00 AM Gr. 4 to 6 One Third of the World's Population

Word on the Street 2011

It's that time of year again, when literary events fill the calendar. This Sunday (Sept. 25) is the annual celebration of books, Word on the Street. In Vancouver, we never know if we are going to have blazing sunshine or rain and wind for this celebration. I've been there during both kinds of weather, and my fingers are crossed for warmer temperatures. (It can get pretty chilly with the wind whistling around the tents at Library Square.)

Brian Harris, creative partner and photographer for my most recent books, will be talking about Watch Me Grow! A Down-to-Earth Look at Growing Food in the City. Find him at the Raise-a-Reader Corner at 2:20 pm and hear about his ideas on photography, sustainability and using his talent for good works. Best of all, see his amazing photos! (To learn more about Brian, check out his website here. To learn more about Watch Me Grow!, go here.)

I often present at WOTS, but am glad to be a spectator this year and have the chance to wander among the wonderful gathering of books, families, authors and readings.

Hope to see you there!

Happy To Be in the Top Ten!

A recent article, The Ten Happiest Jobs, by Steve Denning reports the findings that authors rank fourth highest in a survey of who is happiest with their jobs. In the listing for fourth place, it says, "For most authors, the pay is ridiculously low or non-existent, but the autonomy of writing down the contents of your own mind apparently leads to happiness."

I have to concur that I am very happy with my job! (In spite of the ridiculously low pay, with which I also concur.)

Who rates happier than authors? Clergy, firefighters and physical therapists. All very good people in my books.

If you'd like to read the full text of the article, go here. (Meanwhile, I will go back to writing down the contents of my brain.)

Cheers!

Back to School...

The sun is shining brightly in Vancouver, making up for a cold and rainy July. The tomatoes are ripening in the garden and it still feels like summer!

But for children and teachers in my part of the world, the vacation season has passed and it's back to school time.

I wish you all a happy and productive school year! And many great books to fill your days!

(For tips on what to read, check out Best Books for Kids and Teens, published by the Canadian Children's Book Centre.)

May the Muse Be With You!

The weekend is upon us and for all of those amazing speed-demon writers, it is time for the annual 3 Day Novel Contest. I can hear the sharpening of pencils across the continent. Tonight at midnight, the contest begins.

I am not a fast writer, rather a very slow one, in fact. But I have huge admiration for those writers who can pen an entire novel in a single weekend. My Dad is one of them. Yay, Dad!

My weekend is a busy one, so I can't say much now, but I will direct you to an earlier post from another year, celebrating the 3-Day-Novelists and, especially, those who are related to me.

May the muse be with you!