I had this week off. No school presentations, got a chance to catch up on my exercising and health routines and I had hoped, in all of that time that I had, I’d get an idea for another picture book. Nope. Zip. Which just goes to show how hard the darn things actually are to […]

Sometimes it amazes me what a body can put up with. Fifteen presentations in five days at ten different schools across an expanse of area that probably covered about a hundred and fifty kilometres. And on top of it all my GPS was moody. Sometimes when I needed it the most, it decided to stop […]

One thing I was looking forward to was the drive up to Sudbury! I think long car rides are akin to taking babies for walks in strollers, only on an adult level. It’s always nice to see new scenery, and I haven’t seen  Northern Ontario for quite some time. Just past Barrie you start seeing […]

When I first started publishing I believed that getting the novel out there was the most important thing. Then I thought I could create a sort of grass roots movement to buoy my efforts. Haven’t we heard of people who got successful doing this kind of thing? Christopher Paolini self-published his book Eragon didn’t he? […]

Just got back from Calgary last night/early morning. Actually the plane landed at 12:30 am. Didn’t get home till past one. I had to do two presentations in two libraries in Calgary. It’s always fun to meet librarians, but this time was particularly a pleasure because a teacher at a private school in Calgary, who’d […]

I’m not much of a fan of boxing movies. I watched Rocky. Winced when they cut his eyelids so he could see! And cheered when he won. That’s basically what most boxing movies seem to be about. A guy who beats the odds, pardon the pun. And yet Cinderella Man with Russell Crowe and Renee […]

In my excitement, I had forgotten about all the political protests that are wracking the state of Wisconsin and especially the capital Madison, where I went to collect my award! On Saturday they were expecting a hundred thousand people to march on state legislature, a white building with a cupola that looked a bit like […]

It must be odd to hear the phrase alhamdu lillah (all praise is for God) after such a statement, but I really do mean it. Life is not just filled with glory moments! It’s also filled with mundane annoying moments. After 23 years, my dryer broke down. So we decided to upgrade both the washer […]

Ever see the circus performer spinning plates on the end of sticks? I feel like that. There was one in particular I saw, who actually had a kind of rack with different plates spinning on top, and while he set up other aspects of his performance, he’d go back and give a plate that was […]