Across this Country

September in Nova Scotia. October in British Columbia. November in Alberta. What wonderful opportunities to meet readers across this wonderful country of ours.

I’m often in Nova Scotia in the early fall. Knowing this, organizers of Word on the Street in Halifax invited me to take part. My audience at the CBC tent included (much to my delight) friends I hadn’t seen in a long time, former Seaside Workshop participants, and a mom who introduced me to her two kids after my reading was over. She had driven all the way from Cape Breton that morning (a 5 hour trip) because Red is Best had been a favourite of hers when she was little and now it’s a favourite of her kids’. My reading of The Man with the Violin went over well at that session and then again later, after catching up with folks at the Woozles booth, on Theodore Tugboat.

Next week I’ll be taking The Man with the Violin and What Happened to Ivy to the opposite coast, where I’ll have two chances to meet with readers (and maybe fellow writers too) at Vancouver Writers Fest. I’ll be reading the picture book on October 22 and discussing and reading from the novel on a “Tough and Topical” panel on October 24.

In November, I’m looking forward to meeting with Alberta teachers at their Early Childhood Education Council conference, where I’ve been invited to give a keynote address and a plenary session as well. My tech-savvy sister has collaborated with me on the creation of a “play”-ful Powerpoint presentation to accompany the keynote. (The conference theme is “Play It Again”.)

A week later I’ll be starting a series of writing workshops for kids closer to home – just an hour away if traffic is in my favour. They’ll make a nice bookend to the season, which began, after all, with hosting another great group of writers on Nova Scotia’s south shore at our Seaside Workshop/Retreat. I haven’t blogged about that this year; too busy looking at the photos they’ve shared, I guess, and immersed in my current work-in-progress. How’s it going? I’ll say, in typical Canadian fashion in keeping with the theme of this post — Not bad.