sheesh, forgot about this place

I’m not here. I’m really here. Honest

getting the feed to work

this post is to see if the feed will update, evar!

Real World of Pirates

Real World of Pirates book covers

One of the best things about writing a book (besides the worldwide celebrity it brings) is seeing the artwork and covers for the first time. When you’re writing a book or an article or anything really, you only see it as a plain old boring word processing document. There’s no colour, no images to make your words come alive and no cover with your name emblazoned in huge flashing letters (okay, so you don’t get that anyway, but a writer can dream.)

Last week, my editor at Capstone Press sent me the covers for my upcoming books in the series The Real World of Pirates (that’s them at the top of this post.) I also had a look at all the interior art work, layout, etc and I have to say that I’m very happy with how it’s looking and I’m very excited to see the real papery version.

With a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie out this summer and recent rumours that pirates are the new wizards in kids publishing, I’m confident that these pirate books will be a big hit with readers across North America.

The books come out this fall and will be sold directly to schools, so if you’re a teacher or school librarian make sure you add them to your school’s piratey book collection!

Follow these links to see larger versions of each cover with their back page descriptions:

Pirate Gear: Cannons, Swords and the Jolly Roger
Pirate Treasure: Stolen Riches
Pirate Ships: Sailing the High Seas
The Pirate Code: Life of a Pirate

tagged: [writing] [pirates] [yarr!]

Way to go Mel!

Yesterday may have been Mother’s Day, but around here it was Mississauga Marathon Day. I had the pleasure of watching Melanie achieve a very big goal in her life: running a full half marathon. For those non-running lard-butts, like me, that’s 21 km. Running. Non-stop. Yeah, the thought makes me shiver too.

For the past six months, Melanie has endured 10 km runs on cold, dark winter nights. She’s braved icy rain storms to finish hill training. And she’s never once thought of quitting, never ever tried to skip a training session or shied away from the challenge she set herself. Anyone who has ever trained for a big althetic event knows the hard work and determination it takes to get the point shown in the photo above.

Way to go Mel! I am so proud of you.

tagged: [running] [mississauga] [marathon]

Standing Room Only at Holy Family Literacy Night

All I can say about my recent visit to Holy Family is: Wow! What a turn out. Several hundred people packed themselves into the school’s gym to celebrate their Family Literacy Night and by all accounts the evening was a success.

Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my camera to the night, so I have no photos to show off. It was a lot of fun to see all the students with their own literacy projects, stories, pictures, comics and more, lining the gym. I presented a short talk to open the evening, which was filled with stories, music and lots of great food.

Thanks to all the students and teachers at Holy Family for inviting me to their big night and congratulations on a creating a fun evening of reading, writing and delicious baked goods!

tagged: [writing] [literacy] [appearances]

Heading to Holy Family

Tonight, I’ll be on the road again, but this time my journey won’t be too far. The good folks at a local school, Holy Family Catholic School, have invited me to their Literacy Night festivities, and I’m really looking forward to it.

This time, it’ll be a bit different. I’m not reading from my Pet Tales books and there won’t be another performance of the Max Finder Mystery Theatre. The students of Holy Family have created literacy projects and tonight is their night to show them off to their families and friends. Before the festivities kick off, I’m giving a brief talk on literacy and I’m very excited.

And as a bonus, since the school is so close, I won’t even have to drive to get there. Yah!

I will deliver a timely report when I return. I promise.

tagged: [writing] [literacy] [talks]

Top tips for teen writers

As I’ve mentioned earlier, one of my favourite parts of a school visit is the Q&A session with students. In addition to being asked about pinball machines in my office, I’m often asked to give advice to young writers.

My answer involves the usual tips: write everyday, always carry a notebook and pen and don’t listen to the internal editor. This morning, via Inkygirl, I found some more great writing tips for teens over at John Scalzi‘s blog Whatever.

The post, 10 Things Teenage Writers Should Know About Writing, digs deeper than I’m able to during a school visit, allowing it to explore more deeply the dilemmas faced by all teen writers (possibly all writers) at one time.

Tips 1 & 2 are my favourites:

1. The Bad News: Right Now, Your Writing Sucks.
2. The Good News: It’s Okay That Your Writing Sucks Right Now.

If you’re a teen writer or just a writer looking for some handy tips, check it out, because as Scalzi points out, we all write crap from time to time. Unlike Scalzi, I’m not brave enough to post my bad writing online. Sorry.

tagged: [writing] [advice] [tips]

Free comics for all!

It’s that time of year again: Free Comic Book Day is tomorrow!

From Conan to the Transformers, with Donald Duck and Bart Simpson sandwiched in between, there are plenty of great comics to choose from. I always enjoy FCBD because it’s another step toward opening up the world of comics to everyone, not just collectors who drool over 1st edtion, mint condition issues of Superman.

As someone who loves comics, but is definitely not a comic collector, I know how intimidating comic book stores can be. The new comic fan is greeted rows and rows of plastic bagged books from a myriad of publishers each sporting their own hero as the strongest, fastest and all powerful. Comic book store staff are well parodied for their distain toward the any and all who can’t tell their Kirby from their Ditko (ie. me).

Free Comic Book Day breaks down all those barriers and opens the comic shop doors to all who want to find out what’s really up with these comics.

So tomorrow, take a walk on the wild side and go into that strange comic shop you pass on your way to work. Don’t be intimidated by the muscled men and women in tights (who will hopefully only be on the covers of the books, but that I cannot guarantee.) Walk up confidently to the person behind the cash register and say in a loud clear voice: “I want my free comics!”

You’ll be glad you did.

(If you don’t know where your local comic store is, check out the comic book store locator over at: freecomicbookday.com)

tagged: [comics] [free] [literacy]

Talking comics at C.E. Broughton

Yesterday, I hit the road once again and headed to C.E. Broughton Public School in Whitby, to talk comics as part of their Author’s Night.

Also appearing on the night was Heather Whaley, who entertainined the younger kids with her stories and songs.

In the run up to the night, organizers warned me that for various reasons I might only have a small audience. But the kids broke all expectations and came out in force, filling the seats and leaving standing room only in the library.

It’s always fun to talk about something you really love and it was clear from the kids’ excitement that there were many comic fans in the audience. We talked about the comics we enjoyed and why we like them so much.

One of my favourite parts of my talks is the Max Finder Mystery Theatre segment, where the kids come up to the front and together we read a Max Finder Mystery episode.

The latest installment was another roaring success, with the kids reading their parts beautifully. Although the audience was stumped by the mystery, we all had a lot of fun trying to deduce whodunit.

The evening ended with the usual Q&A session. The award for Best Question of the Night goes to the young man who asked me if I had a pinball machine in my office. I wish!

Thanks again to the parents, teachers, librarians and most importantly the students of C.E. Broughton for organizing a great night of authors, literacy and comic fun.

(If you’re wondering how the heck I got around to posting about this visit so soon, it’s all thanks to Melanie, who snapped the photos with our brand new digital camera (which totally rocks and is sure to make us one of those annoying couples who upload a constant stream of funny/cute/useless photos. Watch this space for pics of birds at the birdfeeder and squirrels eating toast . . . )

tagged: [writing] [appearances] [literacy]

On the road to Whitby again

For the second time in less than a month, I’m heading out to the great town of Whitby, Ontario to talk about writing, books and meet some great young readers.

A few weeks ago, I posted about my appearance at the Words in Whitby Celebration of Authors and had a great time. Whitby is a great place, with an ideal mix of rural and urban and I really enjoyed my visit there.

Now, thanks to C.E. Broughton School, I’m off to Whitby one more time. The librarians and teachers at C.E.Broughton have invited me to their Author’s Night, happening tomorrow evening. Students, parents and teachers will be coming out to learn a bit about how comics are made and what it is that I do all day exactly. I’m very excited and grateful to the fine teachers at C.E. Broughton for inviting me into their school.

Author appearances and school visits are a new thing for me and I really like them. Being a writer means sitting around in front of your computer all day with only the a few plants and squirrels for company. For a natural hermit like me, it’s a great way to make a living. But it’s easy to feel isolated.

Visiting schools, libraries and author festivals is a great way for me to connect with the kids I write for. Every time I come back from an appearance or visit, I feel charged up and ready to write some more. It’s great when the students see your books and their faces light up with excitement or, in the case of Max Finder, recognition.

My favourite part of each of my talks is the Q&A session. The kids are free to ask any questions (within limits, of course!) The questions are always great, but sometimes there are real winners, like “Have you ever got mad and yelled at your editor?” These questions usually require quick thinking on my part and some witty (at least to me) remark that deflects the question – perfect training for politics, I should think.

Thanks again to C.E. Broughton for the invitation. I’m looking forward to meeting the students, talking comics and dodging those tricky questions.

tagged: [writing] [school] [visits]

Happy May Day

To all who work hard for their crust, this is our day. Check out the May Day celebrations going on around the world. Be proud, be strong and be counted.

tagged: [workers] [May_Day] [celebrate]

Online rights and Canada’s fur trade

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my writing career, it’s that rights are very, very important. In the past I’ve done work for hire, where I hand over all ownership of my writing to the publisher. While not the best arrangement for creatives, it can be acceptable as long as you’re okay with receiving a larger lump sum up front and then saying goodbye to having any say about what the publisher does with your writing.

Cover Art by Remi Geoffroi
The best arrangement for any writer is to grant a licence to publisher for the right to print your writing. More and more, publishers are looking to get online rights as well as print rights. Normally, these shouldn’t just be handed away for nothing, but sometimes special deals can be arranged.

This is the situation with my short story, The Blue Fisted Paddle, originally published in Kayak magazine. I really like the story and apparently, so did the Canadian History Society, who publish Kayak. They have just put together furtradestories.ca an entire website devoted to telling, well, the stories of the Canadian fur trade, obviously. And my short story is part of that collection.

I’m usually wary of licencing my stories to 3rd party websites, but this site interested me. It’s basically a storehouse of information about a particular part of Canadian history. It’s clearly designed as a research tool for for students and teachers. That’s a good thing for students and for me as a writer. Having your work used as curriculum material is always an honour.

So, head on over to furtradestories.ca and check out the Blue Fisted Paddle. Here’s a sampler to get you going:

The large hand pulled me from my hiding spot.

“Listening to our conversation, farm boy?” Sebastian gripped my neck and pushed his pockmarked face close to mine.

For weeks, this man had tormented me, and now he had caught me sneaking around like a misbehaving child. His companions, Henri and Josef, were eager to witness another display of Sebastian’s legendary foul temper.

“Your ears are too big, Luc. Tell me what you heard.”

“Nothing,” I lied. To tell these men the truth would mean death. To tell them that I heard their plan to murder Nicolas Perrot, our expedition leader, would end my short time as a coureurs de bois, a runner of the woods.

Read the rest of The Blue Fisted Paddle at furstories.ca.

tagged: [history] [writing] [Canada]

Word Up (finally . . .)

I know I’m two weeks late, but here at last are some photos from a great day at the Words in Whitby Author’s Festival.

It was a beautiful April day, with the sun shining down and the chill in the air nowhere to be felt. Melanie and I arrived to the Centennial Building in downtown Whitby to find the tables overloaded with my Pet Tales picture books, stuffed toys and all.

Many young visitors had difficult choices to make. What would it be? Adorable puppies, irresistable kittens or playful ponies?

After a bit of wrangling, the program for the afternoon was set and myself and Sharon Jennings got underway (Sharon wisely chose to read first, ensuring I had a tough act to follow.)

As the kids streamed into the theatre, we decided that having them join us on stage would work best. Both Sharon and I had picture books to read from and those overstuffed chairs looked too comfortable to resist. So, the audience clomped up the wooden steps onto the stage and we all settled down for storytime.

It was great to look out to the kids around me and see several of them clutching their own little stuffed versions of Baxter or Duncan as I read from each pet’s story (I also feel the black curtains really gave it that Charlie Rose feel I always try to capture with my readings.)

The audience was definitely a bright bunch, full of suggestions on what Baxter and his pals should do throughout the stories.

After the readings, it was time to sign some books.

I was thrilled to see so many young readers buying books and very happy to meet them all one by one.

As you can see from my smile, I was really having fun.

I was happy to see a few Max Finder fans in the crowd too.

And that is Words in Whitby in photos. Thanks to all the organizers and volunteers who made it such a great day. And thanks to the kids for coming out. It was an honour to be part of the fun.

tagged: [writing] [whitby] [appearances]

Out and About for Spring

Spring’s flowers are pushing through the soil and that means it’s time for this author to hit the road and get some fresh air! I’m very fortunate to have two great author events happening in the coming days.

Words in Whitby, Sunday April 9th, 1 – 3 pm.
I’ll be reading from my Pet Tales picture books at the Centennial Building in Whitby as part of the festival’s Children’s Program. The event is hosted by Neil Crone, who promises an in-depth and revealing Q&A session after the reading. I’m excited, terrified and hopeful Neil won’t bring up the infamous cheese sandwich incident from ’83. We’ll just have to see . . .

John M. James Public School, Bowmanville, ON. Tuesday April 11th.
As part of their Author’s Night, I’ll be talking to students of John M James PS about comics, writing and lots of other fun stuff. There’ll be hot dogs on the BBQ and many other fine authors in attendance, so I’m very excited to meet, greet and eat!

[posted from main page]

tagged: [writing] [appearances] [spring]

Buried by Science!

Illustration by Karen Patkau
It’s been a Bunsen-burning busy week around here with me wrapping up the revisions for the first of three science graphic novel scripts for Capstone Press and starting a short fun article for KNOW, a great new kids science magazine, published by the good people at YES Mag.

The current issue of KNOW, pictured on the left, features my short piece about the sticky science of chewing gum. It’s only the second issue of KNOW and my first article for them. It was a lot of fun to write and real learning experience (who knew there was so much to know about gum?)

With all this science writing, I’m becoming a real storehouse of bite-sized science knowledge. Electricity? Food chains? Chewing gum? Go ahead, ask me anything – I bet I know the answer!

Now, if all this knowledge could only help me with my taxes . . .

tagged: [writing] [science] [magazines]

Word Up in Whitby

Spring is on its way and in addition to bringing more writing projects, it also sees me heading out to Whitby, Ontario to be a guest at Words in Whitby 2006. The annual celebration of authors takes place on April 7, 8 and 9 at the Centennial Building in Whitby.

The three day celebration of authors is hosted by acclaimed journalist Ted Barris and will feature many fine Canadian authors, Wayson Choy and David Gilmour to name just two, so I am very honoured to be invited.

I’ll be appearing during the children’s program, and reading from my Pet Tales picture books. It all happens on Sunday April 9th from 1 to 3 pm. I’ll be joined by fellow children’s writer Sharon Jennings, the author of over 11 picture books including Mrs. Ming, which received a Governor General’s Award for illustration. Hosting the children’s program is actor and writer Neil Crone (whose blog is definitely worth checking out.)

This will be the first time I attend an authors festival as an author, so I’m very excited. Now, I just have to practice reading my own books for the big day!

Visit the Words in Whitby website for more information on the weekend festival.

[posted from main site]

tagged: [writing] [whitby] [authors] [festival]

Canadian Kids Book Pulled from Awards List

With Freedom to Read Week only a few days away (oops – we’re in the middle of it now!), it’s ironic that the York Region District School Board is pulling from its list of Silver Birch nominees, Three Wishes, by fellow CANSCAIPer, Deborah Ellis.

Here’s the reasons as listed in this article at Canadian Bookseller:

The book, which the school board has deemed “inappropriate” for grades 4 to 6, presents children’s perspectives on the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The book remains on the Ontario Library Association’s list of Silver Birch Award nominees, although the Canadian Jewish Congress has been trying to persuade other school boards to remove it from their Silver Birch lists.

Ellis is one of Canada’s best kids writers who writes about issues that others are afraid to touch. Her first novel, Looking for X, won Governor General’s Award (first novel wins the GG – get it?) She followed that up with The Breadwinner, about an Afghani girl who disguises herself as a boy, so she can fend for her family under the oppressive rule of the Taliban. In addition to being a fantastic read, The Breadwinner, was an example of perfect publishing timing as it was released in 2000, only a year before the Taliban leapt into the consciousness of the world. The Breadwinner quickly became required reading for every student in schools across Canada and it’s Ellis’ insight to the troubles in Afghanistan that marks her as one of those writers who goes beyond mere storytelling.

Already the Writer’s Union has spoken out against removing the book:

“It is both sad and ironic that during Canada’s annual Freedom to Read Week, we are once more confronted with a challenge to a controversial book,” said Ron Brown, vice chair of the Union. “Books that deal with divisive issues should be allowed to encourage discussion, not choke it off,” he added. “We urge the York board to return Three Wishes to its nomination list.”

The Toronto Star had a good piece on this story on Feb 28th and apparently they’ll be discussing it today between 4:30-5:00 pm on The Stafford Show on Radio 640 – of all places (thanks Gillian for the tip!)

I’ll be listening.

Added Thoughts: I was just talking to fellow CANSCAIPer and kids writer, Linda Granfield who remarked that, in 2005, no one complained when her book I Remember Korea was nominated for one of the “tree awards.” I Remember Korea is a series of interviews with adult veterans of the Korean war. Three Wishes is a series of interviews with children living through the conflict in Isreal and Palistine. Granfield’s nomination went forward “with no complaints whatsoever about young readers learning the realities of war via veterans’ recollections.”

Interesting point and one that challenges the argument that the topic covered by Three Wishes is “inappropriate” for grades 4 to 6.

On an partially related note, Granfield also dropped this gem about books dealing with war:

Someone once asked me why I don’t write books about peace instead of war. There is no greater view or discussion of peace than a book about war. A war book is indeed a peace book.

Brilliant.

tagged: [writing] [censorship] [ellis]

First Second Gets Comics Marketing

Early last year, I read a press release [launches pdf!] that introduced me to a new comic publisher, called First Second Books. They’re actually an imprint of Roaring Brook Press (who apparently don’t have a website yet?!), so they’re coming from a book publishing background and it shows.

Although they’ve yet to publish their first books, I knew as soon as I found them that these folks had it going on. Not only is their site driven by a typepad blog engine, it actually updates frequently! Currently, they’re having their authors guest blog each day, which gives readers a chance to meet the creators like Lewis Trondheim , whose Dungeon series of graphic novels hilariously skewers the fantasy genre and should be read by those who think D&D would be better if it stood for Dungeons & Ducks.

In addition to effectively using blogs to market their creators, First Second knows that the web offers unique, low cost ways to get attention, like this simple animated trailer for The Lost Colony, released in spring 2006.

I’m a big fan of creating short movies to promote books, as I think books are more deserving of promotion than any of other crap that clogs our TVs, radios and more increasingly, the web. Companies like Bookshorts in Canada and Vidlit in the US understand this, and I’m hopeful more publishers will agree.

If you’re hungry for another comic trailer on the web, check out this one for Jeff Smith’s Bone, published by Scholastic and produced by KidVidLit.com.

tagged: [comics] [vidlit] [bookshorts] [first_second]

Happiness is a Game of Laser Tag

Image from Vidlit.com

Thankfully, my time spent working in corporate offices has been very brief. But I’d barely finished my first donut when I realized I was in another world, filled with it’s own warped language, customs and demands (pizza day! Crazy Shirt Fridays! 24 hour inventory shifts!!)

These bizarre tribal customs are the basis for the latest VidLit for the new book The Dictionary of Corporate Bullshit.

While mocking office culture isn’t new, it’s always been a sport close to my heart. The Dictionary of Corporate BS looks like it’ll be a hit with those trapped under the glare of fluorescents everywhere (where it’ll be passed around like a secret manifesto inspiring the workers to shake free from their yokes and take back power and – yeah, whatever.)

And to comply with my manditory “mention Max Barry in every post” rule, check out what Max has to say about how the the US is working to make mocking corporations illegal. If you want to see office culture satire at its best, then read the first chapters of Max’s trio of corp-scathing books: Syrup, Jennifer Government, and Company.

Now, get back to work!

And don’t forget, this Friday is no pants day at OD Synergenic Enterprises (ie my place.)

tagged: [books] [corporations] [vidlits]

(Not) Everybody is Working for the Weekend

For freelancers like me weekends don’t exist. It’s Friday and we’re all meant to be getting excited about getting two days off to do whatever we please (which inevitably means cleaning the house/apartment/shed/car/cat/dog/gun/whatever.)

For the last four years or so, I’ve been fulltime freelancing and rarely can I take a weekend off. Not that I’m complaining – when you make your own work, you can never complain about being busy. I’d like to take weekends off, but writing books, articles and comics isn’t like building shelves – you can’t just plug in your power tools and get to work. Sometimes there’s no juice for the tools to work. Somedays you just can’t get anything accomplished – that internal editor rules over you and you stare at a blank page/screen all day. As Monday slips into Friday, you’re suddenly faced with a weekend where everyone else has plans, is going places and your stuck inside working.

That’s what I’m facing this weekend, but I don’t mind. I’ll be revisiting two of my favourite characters: Oxford and Pearl – a ‘you-solve-it’ detective duo for the younger set. It’s for a story that will appear in the summer issue of ChickaDEE magazine, for kids age 5 to 8. Oxford and Pearl appeared in the Jan/Feb 05 issue of ChickaDEE, and I’m excited to see what trouble they can get into this time around.

I may be working this Saturday and Sunday, but at least I’ll be with old friends and that’s always a good way to spend a weekend.

tagged: [writing] [freelancing] [weekends]

Stamps Alive!

The other day I posted about US stamps with kids lit characters on them. Today at we make money not art I found the really cool moving stamp you see on the right. And yesterday I bought some stamps. What the heck is going on?!

They’re made by the Dutch design company Solar and have no other purpose (that I can see) other than being totally technocoolawesome. The site doesn’t explain how they work or how the heck the can sell them for only 0,39 euro, which I assume is the price of a regular stamp, but I don’t really care – I just want to see one on a letter in my mailbox soon. Only then will I believe that these suckers are real.

tagged: [stamps] [moving] [gracefully]

For Melanie

[thanks again to meish.org]

tagged: [mel] [rokx0rz] [hard]

Kids Lit Characters Get Stamped

Although it was announced a month ago, I’m just hearing about the US Postal service’s plan to put some of our favourite kids lit characters on stamps. This is a great idea that is sure to be a favourite with card-sending grandparents and stamp-collecting kids alike.

As a former 10 year old stamp collector, I can appreciate how cool it would be to see Curious George or that wild thing from “Where the Wild Things Are” on my mail. It’s also a great way to boost awareness about children’s books and literacy in general.

Maybe it’s something Canada Post should think about.

tagged: [writing] [stamps] [literacy]

Max Barry on First Drafts and Editing

Get ready to hear more about Australian author Max Barry. In the past I’ve blogged about Max’s Tales from the Cubicle and his take on author royalties, but with the release of his latest book, Company, you’re going to hear a lot more about Max.

He’s just wrapped up a North American tour and his book is being hailed by the New York Times and doing very well on Amazon (the fifth best-selling novel at the time of this post.)

Despite being one of the sharpest writers skewering the bloated world of marketing hype and corporate mafiadom, Max is also a writer who gives back to his fans and aspiring writers. He’s built a great comunity on his site and has some great tips for emerging writers on there as well.

Another reason I like Max is because he subscribes to the “All First Drafts are Sh*t” rule. As a veteran of many first drafts, I’ve learned this little writing law the hard way. Max goes into greater detail in his essay on first drafts and editing over at Chuck Palahnuik’s slightly scary site.

Whether you love or hate your first draft of any story, there is no denying that it can always be edited and always made better. Some writers hate this and some writers love it. I’m on the fence. But Max, well Max loves editing. I would even say that maybe he loves it too much, but then he is the one with two movie deals and a new novel that’s being compared to Joseph Heller’s Catch-22. I’ll take his word for it.

Here’s what Max has to say on editing:

Maybe the idea of writing 90,000 words that bear some kind of relation to one another is daunting enough for you right now, and if so you don’t want to read any further. It’s best not to know what awaits. Better to think that once your word count (checked every ten minutes, and God damn it rises slowly some days) is high enough, it’s all over. You’ve written a novel! Yep, if that’s you, you definitely don’t want to hear this.

But if you’ve finished a first draft and have the niggling feeling that it could be better-that it should be better-then pull up a chair. I’m your man.

Read the rest of the great piece at: chuckpalahniuk.net

tagged: [writing] [editing] [love_it_or_die]

An Idea a Day

I don’t know about other writers, but I do not have a shortage of ideas for books and stories. I’m hit with ideas all the time and mostly I’m smart enough to write them down in my journal. Some ideas are complete stinkers, but others have potential and this is definitely a bonus when you pay the rent through your ideas.

But keeping track and actually developing the ideas beyond notebook scribbles is the test of a good idea. And that’s my test over the next few days.

In addition to being swamped with regular writing work (2 mysteries, 1 feature article, 1 graphic novel script and a short story all due by the end of the month – seriously) , I have a big “ideas” meeting later this week.

For the meeting, I promised to bring a list of the ideas I’d like to pitch in 2006. Right now many of the ideas are no more than a bullet list on the back of a grocery receipt, but that has to change. So, I’m challenging myself to pick at least one idea a day and flesh it out to a one-page proposal. I’ve got one idea finished and I think I’ve got the energy to do another idea. It could be the excitement of getting organized or possibly the afternoon coffee kicking in. Better get back at it while the buzz lasts.

tagged: [writing] [practices] [ideas]

Writing for Comics at Smithfield MS

(photo courtesy of Mrs. Jackson, Smithfield MS)

[posted from main site]

Last week, I spent two great days talking about comics with the grade 8 students at Smithfield Middle School. It was all part of Family Literacy Day and it was a great chance to show the students exactly how comics are made and the work it takes to carry an idea out from my head and onto the pages of a book.

The students were eager to listen (or just eager to be out of class) and they had some great questions, the best of which was: “Are you married?” I think by that point, they were just trying to stretch out their ‘out of class’ time, but I was happy to help. I’ve been there. Who can blame them for thinking that listening to me talk about writing for comics was better than math class?

One of the highlights of each of the five (!) presentations was the installment of Max Finder Mystery Theatre, where selected students joined me up at the front to read a Max Finder Mystery. After some mild encouragement, the kids eagerly grabbed their scripts and soon we were immersed in some serious co-operative sleuthing. The photo above captures all the exciting action. I’ll be posting more photos of the talk in the near future.

I’d like to thank all the students at Smithfield MS for welcoming me into their school and I’d also like to thank Mrs. Jackson and Mr. Smith for their hospitality over the two days. It was a great way to spend Family Literacy Day.

If you’d like me to visit your school and talk to your students about writing comics and graphic novels, you can contact me at: liamodonnell_(at)_gmail_(dot)_com.

tagged: [comics] [appearances] [writing]

Literacy Week in Full Swing

Although it’s billed as being Family Literacy Day, there are reading events happening all week across the country for kids of all ages.

As I posted earlier, I am lucky enough to be visiting Smithfield Middle School tomorrow and Friday to talk to the students about writing comics. There are a bunch of other great events too and you can find them listed here. If you’re looking for a fun day out with the family that will get them reading then check out your local library and find out what they’re doing this week.

Alternatively, you can drop by the Lee house in Calgary, who recently won the FLD’s national contest to have Robert Munsch drop by their house to hang out (and read a few stories one would think.)

Let me tell you, if ever the day comes where I’m prize in a nationwide contest, then my goal as a writer will be accomplished. Seriously though, congratulations to the Lee family. I’m sure they’ll have a great time with Robert – just don’t let him eat all the cookies.

tagged: [family_literacy_day] [writing] [literacy]

Happy Locally, Wary Federally

My head hurts from one too many celebratory drinks and my legs ache from too much pedalling around trying to ‘pull the vote’ yesterday, but we finally did it: NDP candidate Peggy Nash is now NDP Member of Parliment. With Olivia Chow taking her riding too, Toronto is no longer the Liberal fortress it once was.

This morning, I also woke to the sobering reality that Stephen Harper and the Conservatives are now in power. Thankfully it’s only a minority government, so we’ll see how far right they try to go and how far our stronger NDP standing lets them.

So, until the next election, that is all the political postings around here – well, unless Harper does something totally crazy like repeal the same-sex marriage laws, re-open the right to choose debate or start selling all our water to the highest bidder – but that would never happen, right?

tagged: [ndp] [canadian] [election]

When you don’t vote, you still vote

Remember if you want to support the Kanadian Kapitalist Klowns this election, don’t vote. Because, in the words of their leader the Klownenfurher:

“When you don’t vote, you vote for me and you support the corporations and we’ll conquer the world so you can buy anything you want at anytime.“

His video message to voters on election day may be from the 2004 election, but it rings true today:

“It’s a Monday! Don’t vote. Go to work. Be good. Then maybe go shopping and watch a little TV.”

Watch the rest of his inspiring message, courtesy of the newkings.ca.

And if you must vote today, polls are open from 9:30 am until 9:30 pm and you can find your polling station at elections.ca.

Update: Due to annoying site design, I can’t link directly to the “Don’t Vote” video. To see it follow the Video link on thenewkings.ca main page, then scroll down and follow the link marked “When you don’t vote, you vote Klownenfuhrer” Frustrating, but worth it, sort of.

tagged: [vote] [for] [ndp]

Celebrating Family Literacy Day at Smithfield MS

Friday, January 27th is Family Literacy Day across Canada and I’m happy to announce that I’ll be spending two days promoting literacy at Smithfield Middle School here in Toronto. I’ll be there on Thursday January 26th and Friday January 27th, speaking to 10 grade 8 classes about writing for comics and showing them how a comic gets made from start to finish. Thanks to Smithfield MS for inviting me into their school. I’m looking forward to the big day.

[posted from main site]
tagged: [writing] [promotion] [author_visits]

Elephants Dancing Among Chickens

“Don’t let anybody tell you if we just went back to the free enterprise system. The old system of ‘Every man for himself,’ as the elephant said when he was dancing among the chickens. Let’s go back to standing on our feet.”

- Tommy Douglas on the erosion of Medicare in 1979 [launches .mp3 file]

This morning I woke up to CBC radio interviewing Jack Layton and it got me fired up again. Jack mentioned that on his ipod he’s got some old speeches from Tommy Douglas that Olivia downloaded for him. In Sam Bulte’s books, I guess that makes Olivia a ‘pro-user zeolot’, but that’s another matter.

I went looking for these old speeches and, although the NDP site has a podcast page and promises of old Tommy Douglas speeches, I couldn’t find any (if I’m missing the page, please someone give me the link.)

After a quick google search, I found Ravi Joshi’s blog ravijo.net. Joshi is the podcasting brains behind NDP candidate Phil Allt‘s website and his latest post contains a great mp3 of Tommy Douglas speaking about the erosion of public healthcare.

The speech is from 1979 but it’s as relevant today as it was back then. The audio file is only a few minutes long and it is worth listening to if not for its message on healthcare, but to hear the passion in Tommy’s voice (he is the Greatest Canadian, after all.) I don’t hear this honesty in any of the Conservative or Liberal candidates. Admittedly, it’s hard to convey passion in the 5 second soundbites mainstream media allows its viewers and listeners.

Get beyond the soundbites of this election, grab a coffee and 5 minutes and listen to the message of Tommy in 1979. It’s as important today as it was back then.

Also worth listening to: Charlie Angus on why strategic voting sucks [launches .mp3 file]

Remember: Jack will be talking to Peter Mansbridge during the National tonight. Visit cbc.ca/national/ to find out when it’s on in you timezone.

tagged: [ndp] [Layton] [Tommy_Douglas]

Duct Tape Key to Conservates Campaign

“Duct tape works.”
- Ralph Klein, when asked about high poll numbers for Conservatives.

The Conservatives are enjoying high numbers in recent polls, but as this CBC article points out, it’s more for what they’re not saying this time around.

Remember all those scary, right-wing, homophobic Conservative candidates from 2004? They’re still around, they’re just not talking to the media.

From the CBC:

Rob Anders, the MP for Calgary West who once called Nelson Mandela a terrorist, has not been attending all-candidates forums in the riding and does not talk to the media. [Cheryl] Gallant is being similarly careful, communicating largely through press release and door-to-door campaigning. And Paula Henderson, a volunteer for Nova Scotia candidate Rakesh Khosla, told a Halifax newspaper that nobody would be commenting on Khosla’s participation in a meeting involving clergy members who are against same-sex marriage. “We’ve been told by Ottawa that we don’t talk about that,” Henderson said. “That’s a dropped subject.”

You’ll remember Cheryl Gallant as the one who compared abortion to al-Qaeda’s recent televised beheading of American Nicholas Berg.

Rob Anders calling Nelson Mandela a terrorist is only one of the terrifying things to come from his mouth.

It should be no surprise to that progressive Canadians have rallied together urging voters to Think Twice on Jan 23rd.

We all know that strategic voting sucks, but Jack has a strategy for all those fed up with the Liberals and terrified by the Conservatives:

“Lend us your vote while the party you have supported in the past cleans itself up.”
- Jack Layton

Sounds like a plan to me.

Update: Check out the NDP’s new TV ad to see former Liberals voting for Jack.

tagged: [ndp] [elections] [canada]

Rallying for Jack and the Gang

Rally for Layton
Originally uploaded by alex felipe.

This morning saw Melanie and I heading down to the CNE to rall- it-up for Jack and the rest of the NDP gang. It was an early morning, but definitely worth it.

Together with a bunch of other good folks we all hopped on buses from Peggy’s campaign HQ and made the quick trip to the CNE, where the place was soon jumping to the pickin’, grinnin’ and winnin’ bluegrass twangin’ of Roses in the Snow (pickin’/grinnin’/winnin’ is theirs, not mine, but I like it.) The fact that the music of choice was bluegrass was perfect for Mel (a bluegrass freak, btw) and definitely got everyone’s feet tapping.

After a brief introduction from BNL’s Steven Page, Jack came on and gave a great speech and we all cheered and rallied – hey that’s what we were there for. I’d go into details, but you probably know them by now. If you don’t head over to ndp.ca and get reading.

One of the highlights of the day was bumping into Alex Felipe, a freelance photographer with a kickin’ flickr gallery. Turns out that Alex and I worked together at Indigo books back when we should have known better and before they started checking the bags of their staff, but that’s another story.

Alex took the great photo up there (is that a leader of a party or what?) and he has got a whole set of photos from the rally and a bunch of other cool images in his gallery over at flickr. Thanks Alex for letting me grab it. So, go check his photos out and remember, on Jan 23rd vote NDP – the kids will thank you for it.

(many apologies to the letter ‘g’ for being ruthlessly and repeatedly dropped in an attempt to jazz up this post.)

Update: Chandrasutra provides a much better write-up of the rally and apparently this up and coming news source had something to say about it too.

tagged: [Layton] [ndp] [rokx0rz]

Bulte Loses Cool at “pro-user zealots”

Things didn’t go well for Sam Bulte at last night’s Parkdale-High Park ‘Meet the Candidates” session, organised by the Bloor West Village Resident’s Association.

The question of her copyright conflict was raised three times and each time she continued to see no problem with accepting money from record company and movie industry representatives while playing a key role in the Liberal government’s current committee on the definition of copyright. Follow the Bulte/copyright technorati trail to get all the info on this latest Liberal conflict of interest scandal.

It’s no secret that I’m backing Peggy Nash in this election and from the applause she received last night, I’m not alone.

(Photo: Accordion Guy)

As you can see from the photo, the meeting was packed with residents from across the area and a few top-notch bloggers like: Accordion Guy, False Positives and Chandrasutra.

If you want the full scoop of the night, check out Accordion Guy’s report and his update and False Positives take on the situation. Also not to be missed is the video of Sam Bulte getting testy at the “pro-user zeolots”.

tagged: [bulte] [copyright] [ndp]

Cho blogs

I’m very happy to report that the man that brings Max Finder (and many other characters) to life has jumped into the blogosphere. Good friend and great artist, Michael Cho has set himself up with a sketch blog, which is quickly filling up with his latest works and late night musings.

To learn more about the man behind the Max Finder look, check out chodrawings.blogspot.com.

To kick off Mike’s new blog, below is a sample of some of his work. It’s a sketch of the Max Finder Mystery cast, which appears in the latest special edition of Max Finder Mystery (I didn’t mention the special edition? Well, I will tomorrow . . .)

tagged: [Max_Finder] [blogs] [Michael_Cho]

2006 is Max Finder’s Year

It’s Tuesday and I’m actually getting things done, which means that I’ve shaken off the holiday hangover and I’m back at it.

I’m excited for 2006 and I have been for many months now. The pace of publishing is so glacial that I’ve known that this is going to be a big year for me. It’s the time when all my work in 2005 finally sees the light of bookstores and classrooms across the country.

There are a bunch of books and articles scattered throughout the year, but I won’t go into them now. That’s because I can finally announce that a project close to my heart is finally underway.

This fall the folks at Owlkids Books, will be publishing the Max Finder Mystery Collected Casebook Volume 1, containing ten of the best Max Finder Mysteries and a bunch of great puzzles and bonus materials.

The bright sparks out there will note the ‘Volume 1′ and rightly assume that this is the first book in a series. Right now, there are three books planned collecting 30 of the mysteries that appeared in OWL magazine. I’m really excited about the project and look forward to working with OWL and the comic’s illustrator Michael Cho in promoting the book.

Like all my other work, I’ll have more details and hopefully some artwork to show off in the coming weeks.

From where I stand sit 2006 is looking pretty good. Hope yours is too.

tagged haiku: [Max_Finder] [books] [rock]

We’re out of eggnog . . .

What? It’s over? Already? I was just getting comfortable on the couch with my box of chocolates and game controller.

Okay, okay. I’ll get back to work. Hope everyone had a good break while it lasted. Best for 2006 to all.

Let’s see . . . email, must check email. That’s a good place to start.

tagged haiku(ish): [holidays] [over] [damn]

I am finished . . .

The last of the pirate books has been approved, the short story for Kayak mag is in the can, and the latest Max Finder is complete. What’s that mean? It means I am done for the holidays!

It’s time to sleep in, eat chocolate that tastes of oranges and relax.

Hope everyone else enjoys this year’s consumermas festivities. I might post again, but don’t hold your breath – that’s what an RSS feed is for.

Happy non-denominational celebration to all and I’ll see you in 2006.

tagged: [done] [work] [yah]

Reading in Franklin’s Garden

With the snow definitely here to stay, I’m finding myself thinking back to the warmer days of summer. And that leads me back to my book reading on Franklin’s Island and the photos I never posted. Well, the wait is over, here they are!

It was the weekend before Labour Day so Franklin’s Garden on the Toronto Island was pretty busy as people were squeezing in one last trip before the winter came.

The stage in set up like an amphitheatre, which is perfect for singers and performers, but not for a quiet bit of picture book reading. So, I invited everyone up on the stage, where we could all sit around and enjoy a bit of storytelling.

I started out with a personal favourite, Tracker: On the Job. As you can see from the photos, the kids were immediately hooked.

Some more than others.

The best part of the day, was definitely having the kids to help me with the story, guessing what happened next, meowing like kittens and discussing the chances of seeing a cat on a ferry (apparently not very good, although I wrote a whole story about that.)

Four Pet Tales adventures later, it was time to wrap up story time. After a quick photo session and some brisk book sales, the kids headed off to explore the rest of the island and hopped back on the ferry, keeping a keen eye out for any cats who might have hitched a ride.

Special thanks to Mel for taking photos, setting up my book display and being a great “agent for a day.”

tagged: [writing] [readings] [appearances]

Tales from the cubicle

I’ll admit it – I’ve never worked in a cubicle, or an open plan office or any office as matter of fact. When I was 15, I told my mom that I never wanted to work in a place where I had to wear a tie. She was very sad at the time, but I’ve kept that promise. I don’t have the health plan or the diversified mutual fund portfolio that others do, but at least I can revel in tales of corporate servitude. And so can Max Barry.

I’m eagerly aniticipating the his new novel, Company, and I’m once again impressed at his sinisterly effective marketing strategies. To help promote his latest novel, Max has created Tales of Corporate Oppression, a new site that allows visitors to tell their worst stories from the corporate trenches. There are many, but as Max puts it: it’s amazing just how clear a company can make it that you’re completely unimportant.”

So, as I sit in my office just off the kitchen, overlooking the coffee maker and the fridge, I’ll read the stories of others who must toil away in corporate offices all the while knowing that they are utterly replaceable. But hey, at least they get dental.

tagged: [company] [max_barry] [writing]

NDP ads set right tone for election

It’s no secret that I wear my politics on my sleeve (or blog, in this case), so I’ve got to come out and say that I’m very pleased with the NDP and their latest ad.

The spectre of “going negative” is looming over this Canadian election, like one of Scrooge’s ghosts (sorry.)

With their latest ad, the NDP are rising above the negative and using one of advertising’s most powerful weapons: wit.

View the ad in Quicktime, Windows Media or Realplayer and find out what I’m giving Paul Martin this Christmas.

Watch all the NDP ads and learn more about the NDP.

tagged: [ndp] [politics] [canada]

Saved from the dungeon: Art Slade, Video Star

Been trying to get this one out since November the bloody 28th:

I know I just posted about fellow kids writer Arthur Slade and his monstrous podcasts, but he’s done it again.

Arthur has created two short videos showcasing his writing. You can see him talk about his upcoming novel Megiddo’s Shadow and watch him tell you how he out ran Count Dracula at the end of a long interview, for his current book Monsterology.

The videos are short, fun, casual and another example of how authors can use the web to do the promotion that many publishers can’t or won’t do. Like meettheauthor.com, Arthur’s videos will make a connection with readers and do more to boost book sales than the best-written blurb ever could.

Way to go, Arthur. Can’t wait to see/hear (and read) more in the future.

tagged: [writing] [vlogs] [promotion]

Back from Blogger’s dungeon

Holy Crap! I can’t believe I’m posting again. Two weeks of frantic emails to tech support and an endless stream of 005:sftpException errors and I’ve finally got this blog back on track again. What a pain in the butt.

It all started when my gracious hosting company decided to beef up security and start using sftp for posting. I’m all for that and happy they did it. Blogger, on the other hand, wasn’t so pleased. It didn’t like that at all and failed to recognize me and my login for about a week. Very frustrating, but solved with a quick google search that turned up the problem. But it didn’t stop my posting dilemmas. Instead it spat up a cryptic 005:sftpException error. Plug that into Google and you only get 16 entries for it. Dropping the 005 only gets you 174 entries. And Google Help was anything but. Was I the only person in the internet to have this problem? Seemed like it. So, for those of you who have come up against a sftpException error in Blogger, and have landed on this blog via a desperate search for answers, try this: Disable Post Pages. Don’t ask me why this works but it did for me. I have no idea if it’ll work for you.

And after two weeks of kicking my computer, I’m finally posting. Next step is to dump Blogger and migrate everything over to WordPress. Sorry Blogger, but in the words of the great Stephen Colbert: You’re on notice (and soon to be dumped.)

tagged: [blogger] [sftpexception] [wordpress]

Blowing Buy Nothing Day

I’ve been awake for less than three hours and already I’ve blown Buy Nothing Day [BND in the UK]. It all started with an empty carton of milk and ended with me standing in line at the No Frills wrestling with my conscious (it wasn’t a very difficult struggle, really.)

It’s easy to mock culture jamming protests like BND and TV Turn Off Week, but it’s surprisingly hard to successfully participate in them. These culture jamming actions aren’t going to shake the foundations of capitalism or our society (and that’s not their goal), but they do get people thinking and hopefully talking about this stuff. And that’s a good place to start.

So, see how long you can go today without buying something. If you’ve already blown it like me, try again tomorrow. Trust me, society won’t notice, but you will.

Now, I’m off to pour some of my ill-gotten milk into my fair trade coffee – does that balance it out?

tagged: [buy_nothing_day] [consumerism] [milk]

Raincoast’s podcasting promos

Thanks to Arthur, I now know my publishing crystal ball really works. In an earlier post, I suggested that publishers could use podcasts to promote their authors. Arthur sent me this CBC article which puts Raincoast on front when it comes to publishing trends (yet again):

Raincoast Books has launched a new series of podcasts featuring interviews and readings with its authors.

The Vancouver publisher is making the recordings available on Apple’s iTunes or through the Feedburner website.

The literary podcast series will include material from the 2005 Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival.
Raincoast plans up to 15 podcasts in 2006.

Please note that in order to maintain the high journalistic standard of this blog, I didn’t even bother to search google when I spouted off about publishers and podcasting. As far as I know there are many publishers out there promoting their authors work through podcasts. But really, using my google toolbar is so much work, so I’d rather make sweeping generalisations. They’ve never hurt anyone before, so I figure I’m safe.

If you know of any other podcasting publishers/authors, please send me the links – googling is such hard work.

tagged: [publishing] [podcasting] [writing]

Pirates, pirates everywhere

For the last two months, my life has been ruled by pirates. This isn’t something I’ve wanted a lot of people to know, but now I’m coming clean.

Stacked on my desk are half a dozen books on the subject, each one outlining the nefarious deeds of men like Captain Kidd, Blackbeard and the man who launched a thousand mojitos, Henry Morgan. My recent descent into the realm of buccaneers started with an assignment from Capstone Press and it’s spiralled out of control from there.

I’m just putting the finishing touches to four new books in the “Real World of Pirates” series for Capstone. The books will be out next year and they crack open the secret world of piracy, bustin’ myths and telling the truths that other landlubbers were too scared to speak. (Did you know the whole walking the plank thing is a load of pirate’s grog? Never happened. Except in movies and books. )

Soon word got out that I was the go-to guy for all thing piratical. About a month ago, I was hired by Stone Arch Books to write a historical graphic novel about the demise of Blackbeard. I’ve just finished the first draft of that and had a lot of fun writing it.

Up until that point, my interest in pirates was purely professional. But I’ve crossed a line. Two weeks ago, I became a pirate.

Every night from 7 pm until about 10 pm, I climb on board my brig and set sail across the tropical waters of the Caribbean, aiming my cannons at any unfortunate merchant who crosses my path. Just because it’s in the world of Sid Meier’s Pirates doesn’t make it any less real for me. But it is starting to scare me.

What started out as research has now spiralled into something more weird. Now I lurk around the shipping lanes just off Barbados, waiting for treasure-laden merchant ships. I lie awake at night wondering if pirate Jack Rackham will track me down and demand his treasure back. And now I can’t write unless I’m wearing my trusty eyepatch.

This is a warning to all those who are tempted to write about pirates: they’re addictive. They’ll suck you in with their charming villainry, daring deeds and sadistic tortures. (Did you know that Montbars of Languedoc cut open the stomach of a prisoner, nailed the entrails to a post and then forced the victim to dance by beating his backside with a burning log?)

I’d tell you more, but I’ve got to set sail. There’s a Spanish treasure ship out of Havana with my name on it. Those ship repairs aren’t cheap, y’know.

tagged: [writing] [pirates]

Arthur Slade’s monstrous podcasts

Writers are always looking for new ways to connect with their readers. This is especially so for many children’s writers, who spend much of their time visiting schools and giving readings to students.

In the past, websites have been a great way for readers to learn more about their favourite author. With the arrival of podcasts, some enterprising kids writers are connecting with students in new ways.

Arthur Slade is one of those writers. He is also a writer that I fear. Arthur’s writing is so smart that I cringe each time he releases a book, or develops a new idea. With each new title, I’m like “Hey, I wanted to do that! I just hadn’t thought of it yet.”

So it is with Arthur’s new book Monsterology and his new series of podcasts for young writers.

Using his own material as a springboard and drawing on his own broadcasting roots, Arthur dishes up writing tips and tricks for aspiring writers old and new. With titles like “Rewriting Strikes Back”, “How to Be Hillarious” and “How to Write the Next Harry Potter”, Arthur’s podcasts are at their heart a series of simple writing tips. But they are also much more.

Teachers can play them to their creative writing classes, they’re great sticky content for Arthur’s website and a fresh way for fans of Arthur’s writing to connect with the writer. With a simple 5 minute audio file, Arthur has created an effective promotion tool and a new way to reach readers. As podcasts and videoblogs become easier to create, I predict more writers will add them to their sites (possibly even this writer?)

The people who should really be paying attention to these original ideas of self-promotion are the publishers and possibly booksellers. At the end of the day, these podcasts will result in greater exposure for the authors and that can only mean increased book sales. Ideas like meettheauthor.com are already doing this too.

Maybe in the future, a series of author podcasts will be lumped in with the traditional book tours and signings. Who knows? That would be cool and it would also achieve the perfect marketing balance for hermit writers: book promotion from the comfort of your pajamas. Excellent!

tagged: [podcasts] [writing] [promotion]

Opening my Office

With the arrival of my new computer, one of my goals is to move away from Windows and run Linux (at least for my work related activities.) Right now, I’m too busy to really start the shift, but that doesn’t mean I can’t sample the joys of open source.

Thanks to some great work by the open source community, I can run open and free software on my proprietary Windows XP system. Being a writer faced with tight deadlines, I needed a word processing program on this new system right from the start. For that reason, my decision to not buy MS Office (with the almighty Word) was a bit of a risk. And that’s where Open Office comes in.

Open Office is completely free and offers all the software packages that MS Office has: word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, even math database applications (because every kids writer needs a solid mathimatical equation quantifier in his desktop of tricks.)

With a deadline looming on Monday (this morning), I downloaded Open Office early Saturday morning with the hopes of getting it running by dinner. I was expecting a relentless series of errors, mismatched file types and other cryptic computer glitches. Fortunately, I didn’t get any of that. What I got instead, was an easy install with clear instructions that had me typing my first document within minutes.

So far, I’ve only explored Open Office Writer, the open source version of Word, and I love it. It’s designed with Word users in mind, so many of the commands are the same. Creating Word formatted documents is also a snap, which avoids any embarrassing emails from editors asking: “wtf format is this document?”

For you poor unfortunate readers, I will be documenting my move to Linux, over the next few weeks. Right now, my first taste with open source software has been very pleasant and I look forward to trying out other open source programs, like GIMP and actually running one of the many Linux OSs.

If you are upgrading your computer, or just tired of living in the software shadows by running that version of Word burned for you by your brother-in-law’s IT dude at work, then I suggest you check out OpenOffice at www.openoffice.org.

Speaking of which, time to head back to my newly opened office and start meeting those deadlines.

tagged: [OpenOffice] [Open_Source] [Writing]

Goodbye 166

Part of the silence around here has been due to the anticipated arrival of my new computer. My old one (and I mean old – Pentium 166 old!) just couldn’t handle doing anything more than creating Word documents. Posting to blogger (or any blog software) caused delays, hang ups and too many headaches. But all that is over as I say goodbye to the ol’ P166 that had its daily warning messages (that I learned to ignore) and its constant hum that sounded like a disconnected phone (that I learned to tune out) and its lack of speakers (wow – this internet comes with sound!)

I’m not going dwell on why I took so long to get a new system. Right now, I’m basking in the multi-tasking joy of having a brand new computer that meets all of my needs – and then some.

So goodbye 166 and thanks for booting up each morning.

Two month update?

Okay, so here’s the deal: First it was a computer glitch that hid my posts deep within the server. Then it was work – a lot of work, which is never a bad thing. Unless, you have a blog and you’re like me and you don’t even want to look at a computer after sitting in front of it for eight hours (okay six, but shhh!)

So, August ended with me doing a reading at Franklin’s Garden on Toronto Island. I read from my Pet Tales picture books and I think it went really well. Melanie came along and helped out with setting up my books, taking photos (which will be online soon) and making sure my name was spelled correctly on the announcement board at the front of the park (she’d make a great agent.)

September was spent writing a 45 page graphic novel for Rubicon Publishing about Ancient Celts. It was a lot of fun and I really learned a lot about ancient history (Julius Caesar and all that – Astrix now finally makes sense!) Rubicon is an educational publisher and they churn their stuff out fast, so the book will be out in January 2006. Which is cool.

Also for the educational market is a new series of books I’m working on for Capstone Press. It’s all still hush, hush, but I’m excited about it and will let you know more when it’s all in the bag.

AND . . . I’ve been contacted by Stone Arch Press, a new kids publisher, about doing some stuff for them. That starts next week and will keep me writing away until mid November.

Added to all that is one more super secret project that I’m really excited about but refuse to talk about until my name is on the contract and the money on it’s way to the bank. You’ll have to wait for that one.

So, I’m back. I’m busy and I vow to give updates at least once a week. I promise.