Goodbye, Starman

Today has been one of those days. The American Library Association made history by announcing that a picture book, LAST STOP ON MARKET STREET, had both won the Newbery and garnered a Caldecott Honor, and it was announced that David Bowie had passed away.

Stars were born, and a star died.

It happens every day, but I'm feeling it keenly on this cold January afternoon.

Taken at the "David Bowie Is…" exhibit at the AGO.

I can't remember the first time I heard a David Bowie track. I can't remember which track it was. It feels like he's always been there.

But I do remember a girl I used to look after. She lived in a house in Kentish Town, and she was eleven, and she was the biggest David Bowie freak I had ever met. She would dress up like him after school and belt out Life on Mars as if she had written it herself, and it was wonderful. Through his music and his artistry and weirdness and his sheer force of personality, he gave her a bit of his stardust. He gave a bit of it to all of us.

Goodbye, Starman.

Accountability Count: Up at 6 every day, except when I slept through my alarm this morning; one hour of writing or revision done every day; music done every other day; language not done at all, ACK; blogging done and edited, but password forgotten so can't post, DOUBLE ACK; social media time seems to be under control THANK HEAVEN FOR SMALL MIRACLES.

Reading: THE NEST, by Kenneth Oppel, illustrated by Jon Klassen

Watching: LABYRINTH. Of course.

B is for Blog Award!

A few weeks back, I received an email from the lovely Polilla Lynn, informing me that she had awarded me the Sunshine Blogger Award!

While a hectic schedule and lots of pre-scheduled blog posts have made me long overdue in accepting and passing on this award, I DO want to say a huge THANK YOU to her! She has a great blog, which you should all check out.

While the rules say that I should include the logo in my post (done), link back to the person who gave me the award (double done), pass it on to ten others, and answer ten questions about myself, I'm going to cheat a bit, because I know you guys are busy and don't have time to read the answers to ten questions about me.

But I WILL pass on the award! It goes to ten fabuloso bloggers whose blogs I read and love:

1) Shannon O'Donnell at Book Dreaming
2) Julie Hedlund at Write Up My Life
3) Casey McCormick and Natalie Aguirre at Literary Rambles
4) Elana Johnson
5) Matthew MacNish over at the QQQE
6) Kate Hart
7) Rachna Gilmore
8) Lindsey Carmichael at 10 Stories Up
9) Catherine Austen
10) Reading in Color

So go on and check out those great blogs, and have fun on your A-Z journey today!

Shout-Outs, TD Award Edition

I'm participating in my blogging friend Matthew MacNish's Pay It Forward Blogfest this Friday, so we're mixing it up a little today. But this is important, so it's worth breaking from the routine.

I had the great pleasure last week of attending the amazing, literary star-studded TD Canadian Children's Literature Award presentation and gala - and wow, what a party!

The food was great. The people were fabulous.(OF COURSE! I mean, a room full of book people, guys!) The presentation of awards was exciting and wonderful. And then, more food! I made off at the end (to heckling from the waitstaff) with three mini cupcakes. Yum!

But the reason we were all there was to honor the best in our craft. I know a lot of my readers are in the US and may not know a lot about Canadian kidlit, so I want to take a minute to list here the winners of the various awards presented Tuesday night, so you can go check them out.

And here they are, in the order in which they were awarded on the night:

The winner of the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People:

THE GLORY WIND, written by Valerie Sherrard, published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside




The Winner of the John Spray Mystery Award:

A SPY IN THE HOUSE, written by Y. S. Lee, published by Candlewick Press




The Winner of the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction:

CASE CLOSED? NINE MYSTERIES UNLOCKED BY MODERN SCIENCE, written by Susan Hughes, illustrated by Michael Wandelmaier, published by Kids Can Press


Winner of the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award:

I KNOW HERE, written by Laurel Croza, illustrated by Matt James, published by Groundwood Books




Winner of the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award:

PLAIN KATE, written by Erin Bow, published by Scholastic Canada






(And Erin won all of our hearts with her teary-eyed speech when accepting the award - she complimented every one of the other books nominated. A class act all the way.)

So, go check out these amazing books by Canada's best. Happy reading!

New Posting Schedule, and GOLDEN GLOBES!

First, I'm shifting to a new Monday-Wednesday-Friday blogging schedule. It's not that I don't like hanging out with you guys every day - I love it! In fact, I love it so much that my writing time is suffering. So, a little less blogging, a little more writing. It's what this whole thing is all about, after all.


Second: the Golden Globes were handed out last night! And what a night! Congratulations to the cast of Glee, who walked away with not only the best TV series in the comedy category, but BOTH the Best Supporting Actor (surprise!) AND Best Supporting Actress (okay, not so much of a surprise, but still a pleasing result) trophies for TV comedy or musical. Also congratulations to Colin Firth, who took the Best Actor in a Film Drama trophy, and to the many, many other people who won awards last night.


Watching the ceremony, I was struck by two things. First, not many projects (if any) were shut out. It wasn't like other years, where a film might get 6 nominations and not win anything. Pretty much everyone who got more than two nominations won something. I like that.


And second, the clear all-out winner of the evening was "The Social Network," a movie about e-networking and "social media." I think this says something about the word we live in, guys. If you were ever in doubt that blogging and FaceBook and Twitter were the way forward, this should clear it up for you. And I am a little embarrassed to say that I haven't actually seen that movie yet, even though I wanted to.


How about you? Were you pleased or horrified by the winners announced last night? Do you think this is a sign of the Oscar wins to come, or will the Oscars go another way?

Friday Favorites: People's Choice Awards!

Did anyone else watch the People's Choice Awards Wednesday night?  Did you? Did you? Did you?


Can you tell I like Awards Season? And I know, the PCAs aren't exactly on the same level as the Oscars or the Golden Globes or the Emmys, but they're still worth watching, especially for creators of things like books and TV shows and movies.


You know why?


The People choose them. And, you know, the People also choose to buy things that are important to writers.


Like our books. Yup. So, I watch the People's Choice Awards. I want to know what the People want these days, and what they like. And I want to know how my own personal picks do, of course!


I was thrilled (and not really surprised) that Johnny Depp won for favorite male film star, and I was even more thrilled to see Jane Lynch win for favorite female TV comedy star, along with Glee's win for favorite TV comedy. Because Jane Lynch is awesome. And her speech proved it.


How about you guys? How did your favorites do?

OMG, Guys! A Blog Award!

RaShelle Workman over at A No. 2 pencil stat! gave me this lovely blog award, guys! Isn't it beautiful? I love rainbows - they really are magical. And I LOVE cherries, especially the maraschino ones you get on cupcakes! (So they're full of chemicals - I love them, okay? They bring back happy childhood memories. Don't judge!) And my mantra is to choose joy - I believe that if you chose joy, then life will truly be good. So this is, in a lot of ways, the perfect award for me.


Thanks, RaShelle!  You really made my day!


And RaShelle's blog is pretty awesome, so make sure you go and check it out!


Of course, there is a protocol for this award, and in addition to thanking the person who gave it to me, I have to answer the following question: If I had the chance to go back and change one thing in my life, would I, and what would it be?


Ooh, good question. This is a toughie, because although there are things I would like to have done differently, I know that if I had, I might not have my wonderful husband or my beautiful kids in my life, and I would never want that. Maybe just focus more on writing and acting earlier on. I wish I had done that, instead of being in the position now where I feel kind of like I'm playing catch-up.


And now I get to fulfill my final obligation, which is to share the love by passing the award on to up to six other lovely bloggers out there! So without further ado, six people who I want to give this award to are:


1) Nathalie, over at Yup, I Read That - 'cause she is so funny, and her posts are so varied
2) Jennifer Hoffine, over at YA Audiobook Addict - who has the only audiobook blog I know of, and who is really smart
3) Casey McCormick, over at Literary Rambles - who has possibly the most informative writers' blog on the planet
4) Catherine Johnson, over at Kangaroobee's Blog - who posts some great tips and tricks
5) Rachael Harrie, over at Rach Writes - whose blog is awesome
6) Ali Cross, over at her self-named blog - who goes from funny to factual to helpful on her super blog


Those are some great blogs up there, guys, so check them out and offer them some congratulations for having such great blogs.


And have a great day!  I'll be back over the weekend with the announcement of my HALLOWEEN CONTEST EXTRAVAGANZA!

And the Award Goes To...

Almost two weeks ago, I was honored, thrilled, and deeply touched to receive the Versatile Blogger Award!

My very first blog award, guys!  Isn't it beautiful?  Now, we have already established my 21st Century Caveperson status, so of course, it has taken me a couple of weeks to figure out how to get it into my sidebar.  Anticlimactic, I know.  But I finally did it, and it's there, and I just want to take this minute to thank Angela McCallister over at Jaded Love Junkie for this award.  She's got a great blog, so go check it out!

Now, nothing good really comes free - those of us with Little People in our houses know this, yes? - so this thing haz rules, guys.  Rule number one is that you thank the person who gave you the award and link back, which I have done.  Rule numero due is that you have to post the award on your blog, and you can see it over there in the sidebar all shiny and new-looking and beautiful.  Rule number three is that I have to choose fifteen others upon whom to bestow this award, and rule number four is that I have to let them know ('cause not to would be kind of mean, wouldn't it?).

Do you know how many deserving bloggers there are out there, guys?  I mean, really, do you have any idea?  HUNDREDS.  Narrowing it down to fifteen was really hard, folks, but I think I've done it.  The fifteen recipients of the Versatile Blogger Award are:


1) Christine Fonseca, author of Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students
2) Heather Ayris Burnell, author of Bedtime Monster
3) Carolina Valdez Miller, over at Carol's Prints
4) Cynthia Jaynes Omololu, author of Dirty Little Secrets
5) Kate Kaynak, author of Minder, Adversary, Legacy, and Accused
6) Elana Johnson (You don't have to put it up, girl, but I'm giving it to you because your blog is made of AWESOMESAUCE.)
7) Jennifer over at Extreme Reader Book Reviews 
8) Franklin Beaumont over at Flash Fiction Daily 
9) Vic Caswell over at Hairnets and Hopes
10) Holly Cupala, author of Tell Me a Secret
11) Hannah Moskowitz, author of Break
12) Jen Stayrook, of WriteOnCon fame
13) Kelly Polark, whose blog is just too funny
14) Shelli Johannes over at Market My Words
15) Krista V over at Mother.Write.Repeat

Those are some awesome blogs, so I hope you make time to go and check them out.  And have a great day!

Tony Awards! Tony Awards!

Did you actors out there watch the Tony Awards?

I'm embarrassed to admit that this is actually the first time that I have ever watched the Tonys. Every actor should watch them; theatre is an important element of our field, and we should watch them because it's important to know what's being done out there, and also because it's important to recognize and honor excellence in our craft. On the other hand, I don't live anywhere near New York and I never have, so I've never actually seen any of the individual performances/musicals/plays being nominated in any given year. (Unlike the Oscars, which I've often seen because they're movies and are therefore available pretty much in any given place at any given time as long as you can get to a Blockbuster.) I had no idea that the Tonys were even televised before this year. So, I feel that my lapse, while shameful, is excusable. But no more!

Watching the Tonys was, for me, by turns entertaining (Matthew Morrison singing and dancing live? Yes, please.), awe-inspiring, and demoralizing. Awe-inspiring because I was truly shocked by the percentage of huge Broadway stars who are also huge film stars, and also because I got to see clips from musicals and plays being performed right now on Broadway and I LOVE LIVE THEATRE. I wish I could go to the theatre every day. Just watching it had me itching to get back out there and DO some live theatre.

And then came the demoralizing part, as I realized that all of those people can sing. And I mean, really sing. They can bring the house down. And I can't. And by that I mean, even my kids and my own mother beg me to stop when I try to sing, and we're just talking about lullabies and things like that. I mouth "Happy Birthday" as I carry my kids' cakes to them at their birthday parties. I sound that bad. I can dance a groove in the floor, and I think I've probably got some acting chops hidden away somewhere (although sometimes I doubt myself - I think we all do), but I sure can't sing. And I wonder: does this mean that live theatre is out for me? Will I ever be able to "make it" on acting and dancing alone?

I sure hope so, because that's all I've got.

Thanks for stopping by.

Celebrating a Living Legend

I had the pleasure a couple weeks ago of learning that Bill Cosby had been chosen to receive the Mark Twain Award for Contribution to American Comedy. As I watched the taped tribute and ceremony, the realization dawned on me that when I was growing up, Bill Cosby was everywhere. I watched him on television every morning in the children's show The Electric Company, right after 3-2-1-Contact and Sesame Street. Every afternoon, my family guffawed and snickered our way through the Huxtable family's antics on The Cosby Show. In between television shows, I watched him dance and get silly as he plugged Jello. And every night, when my mother had run out of stories and lullabies, she would put on a tape or a record for my sister and I to fall asleep to. There were a few to choose from, but the most popular was our Fat Albert record. I lay awake every night not falling asleep to Bill Cosby's brilliant wisecracks and one-liners. His "Hey, hey, hey!" still rings in my ears and brings a smile to my face.

As I look back on my life as a parent, and as a performer and a storyteller, I realise that Bill Cosby's influence is there throughout everything. It is there in my timing, in my pacing, in the books I read, in the way I handle my children. Echoes of a man I watched perform so long ago, in so many incarnations, are seamlessly interwoven with all of the other influences - teachers, parents, books, films - that have changed me and shaped me throughout my life.

I still have a long way to go, but I am a better performer for having grown up with Bill Cosby in my living room. And the world is a better place for having had him in it.

Thanks, Dr. Cosby. You deserve this award.

And thanks for stopping by.