Yesterday I went to Milton to present at the Celebrating Stories Festival. It was a pleasure because I got to meet a number of fellow Canadian authors including Lana Button . She wrote these books about a little shy girl named Willow and one of the things that impressed me so much about these books […]

Been being interviewed a lot these days! Here’s me on Radio Islam out of Chicago: https://soundcloud.com/radioislam1450/sat-oct-11-2014-topic-shaping-the-next-generation-islamic-resources-for-children And here’s the mayor of Edmonton reading Big Red Lollipop! http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/city_organization/mayor/video-the-mayor-reads-eps2-big-red-lollipop.aspx?doAutoPlay=true  

Just got off the phone with another artist, and there’s something about collaborative works that’s completely energizing. Much better than working alone, slogging away after the initial euphoria of the concept washes over you and you have to get down to putting  your vision down on paper! I might be wrong but I think George […]

I just told a good friend of mine that when the writing is going well, the blog isn’t, and vice versa, so please have patience with me. Sometimes there are just other priorities. I really do feel like a juggler with too many balls in the air, and the blog ball is important, but at […]

I feel like a teacher with lesson plans! Last Friday I began the teen writing workshop. Now I’ve done hundreds of writing workshops so this was easy peasy. Hardly even planned for it because I have writing exercises ingrained in my head! I could do them in my sleep. And then I got nervous. What […]

The last few days have been. I feel completely and utterly wrung out, like I don’t want to do a single thing even when I’ve got tons of stuff to do. My nephew was with me last week. He was en route to a new job overseas. What a wonderful time we had together! But […]

I can’t believe how busy I am! My schedule as artist in library at Fairview is chugging along! Sometimes I feel like I barely have time to catch my breath before I need to begin a new program/project/presentation. But it’s fun! And the people I’m meeting might very well be teaching me more than I’m […]

What do you do when you get such a nice compliment that it kind of floors you? I spend a lot of time reminding myself to not take myself so darn seriously! And I am really fortunate that I have a family who keeps me grounded. I don’t want to ever become one of those […]

Apologies for the infrequency of my blog posts. This summer has been beyond hectic! And with all the work I’ve been doing, both writing, updating websites, preparing for conferences/workshops and preparing for Artist in Library residency that started today, well…things have been crazy. And blogging has not been a priority. I’m doing a workshop at […]

Have to laugh at myself here. I should be working on the teacher guide for King for a Day, but instead, I’m writing about how I’m procrastinating on it. Got me to thinking of that hadith that I love so much. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Make use of five things before five […]