Hola!
I am home from the wars. Well, the White Pine tour, anyway. And I have much, much to talk about.
First, this blog (can one call it a blog if it’s hosted by WordPress rather than Blogger?) will be undergoing renovations over the next little while. It may catch fire or collapse in a jumble of comments and muffled cries while that’s happening. I encourage you to look away.
As noted in the last blog, the Lucky Bitches advice column is almost ready to roll. Keep those questions coming!
Now, onto some of the updates. I would have to say that one of the best parts of the White Pine ceremony for me, besides seeing so many writer friends and book people all in one place, was running into the Girls from Ottawa. These are students from Mother Teresa High School. They made a strong impression by writing, directing, acting in and producing an amazing book trailer for Getting the Girl. Then, after some serious fundraising, they paid for their trip from Ottawa to Toronto to the festival. Once they were in Toronto, I saw them everywhere. We were on the same plane! (I mean plane in the dimension way, not as in the mode of transportation way). On the street! In the train station. Kindred spirits.
Other highlights: going to Belleville with White Pine winner, Pam Bustin, Honour book title holder, Lesley Livingston, and fabulous debut novelist (and seriously adorable) Courtney Summers. All three of them were greeted by their fans with something close to worship. It was fun to see.
And because this post has no real order or logic, and so is a good reflection of my current mental state, I’m pleased to announce that Nice Recovery has made it onto several non-fiction bestseller lists. On that subject, I’d like to thank all the people who’ve talked to me after readings and shared a little bit about what’s going on for them. Every one of you makes me feel glad I wrote the book.
Thanks also to all the people who had me over for dinner. At my editor, Lynne’s, we had one of the most delicious dinners ever. There was an olive course! Yes! At Ken Setterington’s, the magnificent Teresa Toten and I were served homemade key lime pie! Immediately, I felt like writing rhyming nonsense poetry.
Speaking of the Keys, thanks to the ever hilarious Meg Cabot for her shout out to Nice Recovery: http://www.megcabot.com/2010/05/cool-stuff-moms-and-you-will-like/
The love feeling is totally mutual.
Thanks to all the schools and librarians who hosted me and the Forest of Reading organizers and the winners! And Dynasty on Bloor for serving dim sum in the evening.
Okay, I have to go now. Renovations to blog, coming up with a new title for my new novel (due out next March), working on new manuscript, trying to figure out how to post the amazing book trailer by the Girls from Ottawa, getting the garden to look less like an abandoned lot in Brooklyn, all this and more awaits me.
xoxo