Long Beach Inspiration

I'm just back from five days at Long Beach, where I go each year to get my annual dose of writing inspiration. We packed up the family and dogs and stayed in cabins on the ocean. Here's a photo of our last night at the beach. It was an amazing sunset after several days of rain. What a treasure!

More to come soon. Cheers!

"World in a Garden" Summer Programs

When I was researching my recent books on small, local farms and urban gardens, I visited a wonderful community garden called, World in a Garden Project. Like many of the gardens in the Vancouver area, they use earth-friendly practices to grow their food, and believe in showing children the growing process "from seed to table."

If you are in the area and have children who might enjoy some gardening activities, you can check out a couple of their summer programs here.

This photo is from my book, Watch Me Grow! A Down-to-Earth Look at Growing Food in the City. It was shot by photographer, Brian Harris, and shows a boy harvesting rye at the World in a Garden community project in Kerrisdale.

Happy Growing!

All Quiet Here...

It's quiet on the blog front and there aren't many happenings to report. School's out and there are no imminent speaking commitments. My latest manuscript has been turned in and I'm awaiting the editor's comments. I should be anxious (as most writers are when their manuscripts are under scrutiny), but I am feeling remarkably relaxed. I have no idea why!

What am I doing? I'm attending to severely neglected household chores, including cleaning out my office for the first time in ten years — wow! that was a lot of stuff to clear away — and catching up on my book reading and movie watching. I'm taking some time to "fill the well" and it's a good feeling.

I just saw Midnight in Paris and am ready to move there NOW. The movie was a love letter to that wonderful city, and exquisitely photographed. Just dreamy!

I've also read a few great books including the the Woefield Poultry Collective by Susan Juby, Irma Voth by Miriam Toews and State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. All of these women are such excellent writers and I thoroughly enjoyed their books. I wish I could write like they do. Sigh. Maybe if I keep reading, I'll learn something.

How's your reading going? Feel free to send me your recommendations.

I wish you a happy summer of good books and fun times (and maybe a clean office to boot).

Cheers!

Sunshine — and a Nomination!

I think summer may have arrived in Vancouver. Hooray! The past few days have been sunny and warm, leading me to believe I can finally pack away my winter sweaters.

Besides the sun, I have another reason to celebrate: Up We Grow! A Year in the Life of a Small, Local Farm has been selected as one of the five finalists for the Information Book Award of Canada. Hooray again! I'm thrilled with the nomination, and delighted to be named in the company of such wonderful books: 50 Burning Questions: A Sizzling History of Fire by my friend and talented author, Tanya Lloyd Kyi; Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton; Canadian Railroad Trilogy by Gordon Lightfoot and Ian Wallace; and Canada's Wars: An Illustrated History by Jonathon Webb. Congratulations, all! And a sincere thank you to the Children's Literature Roundtables of Canada for my nomination.

If you'd like to read more about the award, go here or here.

Sunshine and books! Could life get any better than this?

Cheers!

Celebrating Canadian Children's Authors

In the spirit of our imminent Canada Day celebrations, I'd like to mention the blog of Lindsey Carmichael who is featuring interviews with Canadian children's authors for the entire month of July.

Lindsey is a bookseller and writer who lives in Nova Scotia, and her blog is Ten Stories Up. You can find the schedule of interviews by going here. She'll spend a week with writers of each of the following genres: picture books, middle grade nonfiction, middle grade fiction and teen books. And, a bonus: At the end of each week is a book draw or other giveaway for readers who comment on a post.

Sounds fabulous! I can hardly wait to begin reading. What better way to celebrate Canada Day than by learning about our country's talented authors.

Cheers!

Sci/Why Blog

Have you heard about the new blog written by a group of Canadian children's writers? It features discussions on "science, words and the eternal question — why?"

I posted my first entry today. I wasn't sure I qualified to be part of this group, and if you click here, you can see why.

Shortly after posting, I realized we are marking the summer solstice tomorrow. Maybe I should have written about that instead. The funny thing is, it doesn't feel like summer in Vancouver. Fingers crossed for sunshine soon!

Happy summer wherever you are. :-)

Beautiful Chesterman Beach

My friend and colleague, Adrienne Mason, has the great fortune to live and work in Tofino, BC, on the wild west coast of Vancouver Island. As well as writing children’s books and being the editor of Know Magazine, she is co-owner of a small, independent publishing company, Postelsia Press. They have just released their newest work, 18 Meditations on Chesterman Beach, — a beach near Tofino, which may be one of the most beautiful places on earth.

I can hardly wait to get my hands on the book. I know it will be fabulous (almost as good as being at Chesterman beach myself).

To order your own copy, or find out more about the book, go here.

Cheers!