A busy week and computer troubles have conspired to keep me silent for all of last week. Much has been happening and not reported . . . until now.
With my picture book series Pet Tales finally in bookstores across North America, I’m shifting into ‘get my act together’ mode:
On Wednesday I met with the buyers at National Book Service, a Canadian book wholesaler for the school and library market, and convinced them to place an order for the first four books in the series (the fact that I used to work there helped too.)
Thursday saw me finally applying to join the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP). I’ve been meaning to join for many years now (you must be a published children’s author/illustrator to join) but have always put it off. I’m not much of a joiner of anything, and I’m trying to change that. CANSCAIP provides useful resources for Canadian authors and meets every month to discuss issues like contracts and school visits. I’m looking forward to my first meeting in October, when I’ll get to meet some other Canadian children’s writers/illustrators/performers and hopefully take another step away from being a hermit writer.
Toward that end, I’ve also added a new section to my main website. The Visits & Workshops page officially broadcasts my availability to attend schools and libraries to give book talks or ‘meet-the-author’ type workshops for kids. I’m putting together some details about the presentations that I’ll offer, which I’ll post in the near future. Right now there is just the page with my content details and a Chatango window, for anyone foolish enough to want to talk to me right away.
This weekend, I’m working on another Max Finder mystery, which will have Max and Alison visiting the big city of Toronto and, of course, stumbling into a mystery (Jessica Fletcher has nothing on these kids.)
But what I’m really doing is reading this article from The Email Activist about Stealth Voting this November.
It’s a great piece that must be read by anyone who plans to vote for Kerry and wants to ensure their vote is counted. In addition to laying out the possible hurdles faced by Democratic voters (tech problems with election machines, ballots being lost, etc.), the article suggests that liberals vote by absentee ballot to guarantee that their vote is counted. And don’t stop there, WALK your ballot to the elections office and here’s why:
“Mailed ballots are more likely to be lost, not by the Post Office, but by corrupt election officials who suspect that a large number of absentee ballots this year will be coming from activists. Since activists are more likely to vote for liberal candidates, their votes might get ?misplaced.? With that in mind, we recommend not only that you deliver your ballot in person but that you do so disguised as a rock-ribbed conservative. You might dress up in a business suit, for instance, with an American flag affixed to your lapel. Tuck a copy of the Wall Street Journal under your arm. And it probably wouldn’t hurt to get a haircut.”
– Email Activist
Call it paranoia, call it conspiracy theory, or call it common sense – read the article and pass it on.
Okay, gotta go get a couple of grade seven detectives to the big city and into trouble before dinner time.
