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Canadian Independent Bookstore Day
Saturday, April 30 is your chance to celebrate heroes of the Canadian book business, Canada’s independent sellers. Read my take on why they deserve celebrating, and I’ll then tell you what they’re doing to celebrate you, their customers. My friend says, “Books are cheaper somewhere else.” But when people buy cheaper, author royalties are correspondingly…
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Beyond Orange Shirt Day
Like many Canadians, I’m horrified and saddened by stories that continue to come out about the mistreatment, past and present day, of Indigenous people in this country. So I’m pleased to know that starting tomorrow, we will be honouring the lost children and survivors of residential schools, their families, and communities with a National Day…
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Do You Love Giraffes?
The subject of my latest book, The Girl Who Loved Giraffes — Anne Innis Dagg — wants to share her life-long love of giraffes. If you’re 7-17 years old, you can meet with her and other young giraffe lovers from around the world online every month by joining the Junior Giraffe Club, set up by…
Read More...May is Vision Health Month
Because I’m so grateful for my own vision health, and because I love to read aloud (and do it well), I’ve been working as a volunteer reader and technician at the CNIB Recording Studio for the past 6 years. In that time I’ve narrated parts of various magazines and text books and 19 entire books.…
Read More...I've Got Mail
Once in a while something lands in your inbox that just makes your day. Such was the case for me recently, when a literacy consultant in Simcoe County wrote to tell me about the impact of my book King of the Castle on her and some people she knows. “I am writing a biography about…
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April is Autism Awareness Month
Autism affects 1 out of every 110 children, 1 of every 70 boys. One of those boys is my grandson Peter. You can listen to the 2010 World Autism Awareness Day message from United Nations Secretaray-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon here. If you missed the Autism Speaks Canada insert in last weekend’s Globe & Mail newspaper,…
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Organ Donation
Kristin Millar was diagnosed with a heart condition when she was still in her teens – the one that some apparently healthy people don’t find out they have till they drop dead on the basketball court. Late last year, when she was twenty-six, the defibrillator that kept her heart beat regular failed. An external pump…
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And More Ways to Honour Them
Last week, after my Nov 15 post appeared, I heard from a retired Canadian Forces officer who had read Highway of Heroes. Like me, he has been blown away by the show of support by the thousands of Canadians who have chosen to stand on the bridges over the Highway of Heroes, and he too…
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A Gift that Really Keeps on Giving
Did you know that signing your donor card may not be enough to ensure that, in the event of your death, your usable organs and tissue will be donated to someone who needs them? The Canadian Society of Transplantation website provides information on steps you can take, wherever in Canada you live, to ensure that your…
Read More...Why I Want You to Care about Bill C-32
If you know any writers personally, you know that generally speaking we cobble together our livings from a variety of income sources. Royalties on book sales are rarely enough to support us, so we rely on fees for public appearances, editing and/or workshop services, and most of us also count on a cheque for the…
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