A couple of weeks ago I received a very excited phonecall from Cornelia Oberlander. She wanted to tell me that April 2008 - the very month my biography about her was being released - had been declared “National Landscape Architecture Month”. The reason? The American Society of Landscape Architects wants to encourage students and parents to “Discover Careers in Landscape Architecture”.

That was part of why I wrote Love Every Leaf: the life of landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander too. I wanted people to know about this remarkable woman and the work she has done (and continues doing on into her 80s!) And I wanted young people contemplating their future careers to be aware of the landscape architect option. “It’s a magnificent profession,” says Cornelia.

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Two big surprises at the Literacy Conference in Burlington last weekend.

1. The onsite bookseller, Different Drummer, had on hand a big stack of Love Every Leaf: The Life of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander - and it wasn’t scheduled for release till several days later! (It looks gorgeous, and after I spoke about it briefly during my keynote address, they sold out quickly.)

2. The night before the conference, I learned that Janet Lee Stinson and Arnie Stewart (see I’ve Got Mail posting) were planning to attend. Not only did I get to meet these two remarkable people, Arnie helped make my keynote address a truly memorable event for everyone there. (more…)

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 a man named Arnie Stewart,” Janet-Lee Stinson wrote. “Arnie is 62 years old and he has struggled for his entire life without being able to read and write. Arnie bravely tells his secret to audiences full of students who have lost all hope.” She went on to say, “Today, I was working on compiling student letters for a new book to accompany Arnie’s biography. Inside one of the envelopes, was a copy of your King of the Castle. On the inside cover a grade 6 student wrote, “Dear Arnie, (more…)

My granddaughter was tickled to see that the book she got from me and her grampa for her 6th birthday - A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It - had her name in the thanks and dedication.

She also received, from both us and a great aunt, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, a wonderful new chapter book by Kate diCamillo. After a quick look through A Pocket… Claire poured over the pages of Edward Tulane, no doubt imagining the story that might be behind Bagram Ibatoulline’s beautiful illustrations.  (She can read a little, but not enough to take on a chapter book.)

As soon as she set aside A Pocket…, her younger brother Charlie picked it up. Perched on the back of the sofa, he began to read. “A barn can have a horse in it. A house can have a me in it.” I knew he could read a few words in books he was familiar with, but this was a brand new book!

With just a little help from his proud gramma, Charlie went on to read the rest of the book, not only decoding the words, but getting their meaning perfectly. With great expression, he read, “Out of the basket, puppy! Out!” And when that puppy ended up in the pond, “Oh, no!”  

So, Claire may have got some nice surprises on her birthday, but I think I got the best one - knowing that my young grandson - thanks in no small part, no doubt, to the many happy hours his parents have spent reading to him - is well on his way to being a reader! Happy reading, Charlie! And to you to, Claire!

It’s now available! My first brand new picture book in sixteen years!

Dave Jenkinson at CM (Canadian Materials) - a friend since I did my first Book Week tour in his province (Manitoba) in 1983 and who was sent a review copy - said, “Loved the imagination of it & the wonderful twist at the end. Deirdre did a great job with the illus. too… This is definitely a book that will be waiting for my future grandchild in the box of books I’m building.” What a nice start as a new book begins making its way out into the world!

Next weekend my granddaughter will get A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It for her birthday. I can’t wait till she discovers that she gets thanked - on the copyright page of the book - for helping to inspire it.

How does this sound? Five days in August in a spectacular Nova Scotia setting - indulging in private writing time, walking the beach, getting feedback on your work from me, my partner Peter Carver (children’s book editor for Red Deer Press and teacher of writing for George Brown College), and a small group of fellow writers from all across Canada? (Possibly. It depends, of course, on who the six successful applicants are this year, but in the past we’ve had people from Vancouver, Alberta, Ontario, and Nova Scotia.)

Peter and I are planning to attend tonight’s CANSCAIP meeting where we’ll announce that we are now accepting applications for our third annual retreat and workshop.

We had a great time the first year we offered it - so good we were almost afraid to offer it again. But, as is perhaps obvious from the fact we’re offering it for a third time, last year’s experience was a great success too. (One of our six participants (from Ottawa) actually reapplied and made a return visit to work on another new and promising novel.)

To find out more about this opportunity, read what some of last year’s participants had to say about their time with us, and to find out how to apply, click here.

What fun it was to read my brand new, hot off the press, advance copy of A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It to a huge roomful of enthusiastic parents and their preschoolers on Saturday. The crowd that had gathered for Port Colborne’s first family literacy event to celebrate the joys of reading together were a pretty restless bunch as I was introduced, but it was pure magic how they quieted as soon as I started reading Red is Best. Pretty gratifying! As was their response to A Pocket… coming soon to a bookstore near you!

I just finished a marathon, a marathon of reading — through 220 pages of notes, single-spaced, on my current novel project. They date back as far as February 2001!

Lots of despair in there. One note says: I hate having a vision in my mind’s eye of what this novel should be, but feeling with every draft - despite how much I might have felt at moments I was getting closer to it - that in the end that perfect, wonderful thing it could be has again eluded me. And if it will always be this way, why go on?

But moments of joy, too. After trying out an idea for a change to a scene: It works! Yippee! 6:00 and I can already call it a good morning’s work! (Yes, sometimes if I can’t sleep, I get up quite early.)

Now, to read through the draft of the novel I completed just before Christmas. If a month goes by without my reappearing here, would someone please come dig me out? Thanks!

6:00 Worked on my novel. Wrote a scene that makes better use of material barely touched on in a previous draft.

7:15 Ate breakfast - yogurt with bananas and almonds and cereal - and did a crossword puzzle.

7:45 Took Keisha for a walk up the line.

8:45 Had a shower and answered emails.

9:30 Drove to Toronto.

10:30 Delivered files to the Osborne Collection, where lots of archival material for my books (and lots of other authors) is housed.

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My sister has been running lots of ideas past me recently, as she works on redesigning my web site. Hard to believe, but it’s been almost 10 years since she designed my first web site for me.

It has been through a number of changes since then - quite apart from regular updates - but I’m so pleased with what Janet is doing that I’ve just got to give you a sneak preview!

Please keep in mind that this is just a picture of the new home page. The links will work, of course, when it’s actually up and running.

Watch for it in the new year!