There’s nothing quite so flattering as when someone is moved to make an artwork based on one’s writing. (As in the case of the mule drawing competition for Republic of Dirt I’m not above bribing people to draw things for me.) Not long ago Avery Creed sent me an illustration from the opening scene of The Truth Commission. I love it so much.
Every detail of this makes me smile. Thank you, Avery!
We’re enjoying some evidence of rampant climate change here on Vancouver Island. We’re in a level four drought, half the island (a temperate rainforest, the last time I checked, but may have been relisted as arid zone as of this month) is on fire, smoke from the many forest fires has turned the sky yellow and the temperature has been consistently inferno-esque. To deal with my feelings around this and around some of the factors that have gotten us to this place, I’ve been moaning and groaning on facebook and Twitter. If you already blocked me for sharing an excessive number of photos of our dog, you’ll have missed the whine-fest and more’s the pity!
I’m going to take a break from complaining on this platform to thank Deirdre Baker for her kind review of The Truth Commission in the Toronto Star and the suggestion that it’s one of the ten books young people (I’d like to suggest ALL people could benefit from reading these books) should read this summer.
This morning I was awoken to a buzzing phone from people on Twitter notifying me that The Truth Commission is on Book Riot’s Best of 2015 so far list. Hot damn! So grateful for the description for the book and to be on a list that includes titles like Laura Ruby’s brilliant Bone Gap, Nova Ren Suma’s The Walls Around Us, Courtney Summers’ All the Rage and Jon Ronson’s So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed. The other titles look excellent and I want to have a S. Juby clone made so I can read them all and finish the manuscript on which I am working. I also love the fact that the opening graf employs the word “raddest”. It’s just great and makes me feel a certain joie de vivre.
Happy summer all. Wish me luck as I swing into the home stretch with the new manuscript!