Cynthia Lord's Blog, page 74

Milo's Haircut

  

Do you think Tyra would say he's smiling with his eyes? 

It's a Book Baby!

 Congratulations! It's a bouncing book-baby!

Name: Mercy Lily

Date: October 8, 2011

Weight: 240 pages

Proud Parent: Lisa Albert ( lisaalbert )

Godparents: Flux Books

Five Things on a Friday

1.  I took these photos last night on my way home.  



We haven't had a killing frost yet, but the grass has been sparkly in the mornings.  I love this time of year. 

2.  Milo went to the groomer yesterday.  He looks very dapper with his short hair and new purple collar. 

3.  I'm visiting with Slatts and MJ today.  We decided to visit a Maine landmark that I've driven by many times and never found myself at a good time to visit.  Moody's Diner!  A friend asked me this morning what I was going to order, and I said, "I'm thinking backward from PIE!"   

4. My agent said we've had an offer for TURKISH rights to Rules.  How cool!  That will be my 8th foreign edition for that book--which is a lot for a realistic fiction novel set in the United States. It also gives me some hope. Disability is a shameful thing in some of the cultures that have bought those rights, and it makes me happy to see interest and a desire to explore that idea.

5.   My husband has two photos in magazines this month:  Down East and Maine magazines have each featured one of his photos with their October articles. Here's the one that's in Maine with an article about about Boothbay Harbor.


Photo by my husband, John

Just Because It Makes Me Smile

At the farm down the road from us.


Photo by my husband, John

Wordless Wednesday

Moonrise, Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Maine. Photo by my husband, John

October Events

New Harbor, Maine. Photo by my husband, John

 
Saturday, October 15, Book signing at Barnes and Noble, Newington, New Hampshire. 1:00 pm.

Tuesday, October 18--Wednesday, October 19, School visit. Chaminade C.P. Middle School, Chatsworth, California.

Monday, October 24--Tuesday, October 25, Community event and school visit. Liberty Park Middle School, Vestavia Hills, Alabama. On Monday evening, I'm speaking at a dinner at the school, which is open to the public. More information here.

CSI Pumpkin

Two of our pumpkins have ripened to a beautiful orange, and they are decorating our table. The third one needed a little more time on the vine. 

But it wasn't hidden in the leaves, like the pumpkin on the right. 

Or tucked into a hamster ball, like the pumpkin on the left. 

So some furry bandit picked it and pulled or rolled it into our front yard where I found it near the bottom of the steps. 

The crime scene:



Warning:  The next scene contains graphic images that may not be suitable for all viewers. 



Ahhhhh! The horror!  The brutal carnage! 

I think the culprit was trying to take the pumpkin up the tree.  So the final score is:

People 2, Squirrels 1.

Huntsville, Ontario

Before I left for Canada, my husband said to me, "I wonder if the Canadians you'll meet really say 'Eh?'"  

I think I only heard it six times, but from five different people.  To be honest, I would have been a little disappointed if I hadn't heard it at all, because it was absolutely delightful every time I heard it! It's like "ayuh" in Maine. It's not as pronounced as comedians would make you believe, but it's there if you listen for it, and it adds a drop of something unique and musical to conversations.    

On Friday, I was part of the Muskoka Literary Festival in Huntsville, Ontario. Huntsville is about 2 1/2 hours north of Toronto and it's stunningly beautiful--and though it was raining (and I even saw some SNOW flurries while I was there), the foliage was gorgeous.

  

All the local schools were invited to hear me and author Tish Cohen. The organizers had originally said they expected about 800-1000 kids, but we ended up with 1300!  I started off with a huge 6th-8th grade group for Rules and Touch Blue, followed by a another huge 3rd-5th grade group for those books, and finally a couple hundred K-2s for Hot Rod Hamster.
  


If you've never done a huge school assembly in a gym, here's what it looks like from the author's perspective  while 550 6-8th graders are filling in the gym.  

It's funny to discover little differences in the way we say things. I was speaking to the K-2 group and my first slide after the cover one is a little story I wrote in the first grade and a photo of me at that age. "Where are my first graders?" I called out.

Not one hand went up.  I knew I had first graders in that group, but they all looked back at me, confused.

"Do you mean Grade Ones?" a teacher asked.

"Oh!" I said. "Where are my Grade ONES?" And a whole bunch of hands went right into the air. :-)

At Scholastic Canada, they told me they have people whose job it is to take the American books and "translate" them into Canadian.  This would be one of those little differences that an author might not even realize is different. 

It was a lovely, busy day with great questions and lots of kids who were excited to be there.  As I was leaving, one of the kindergartners yelled to me, "Cynthia Lord!  Great Job!"  and she gave me two thumbs up.  What a bunch of cuties! 

That night, I had the special treat of going to supper with Lizann Flatt, who is the Eastern Canada RA for SCBWI and then we went together to hear Margaret Atwood talk as part of the festival.  It was a great ending to a fabulous trip.

As my little bitty plane left the airport, I had one last beautiful look at Toronto from above.



And now, I'm glad to be home for two weeks.  The Portland Jetport  has been going through a big renovation--and it'll probably be open for my next trip (to California in October), but I really hope they don't ever remove these signs in the jet bridges. 



Because they never cease to make me smile.

Scholastic Canada

On Thursday, I visited the offices of Scholastic Canada in Toronto.

   

I felt welcomed immediately when I stepped off the elevator by this sign on the receptionist's desk and my books on their reception area bookshelves.

   

Nikole from publicity and marketing gave me a great tour of the office and introduced me to everyone.  It was fun to meet people from their Book Clubs and the French Department and Marketing, etc.



I loved how airy their offices felt, and it's such a beautiful old building. Everyone was so friendly and lovely. Nikole also showed me their bookcases celebrating the Canadian books they publish. 

   
me and Nikole

"Show what you're excited about," I said.  And she showed me several books, including:

    and    

I absolutely LOVED these two.  In Picture a Tree, the art is all in plasticine. You can see an interior spread here.  And I loved the humor of A Porcupine in a Pine Tree!  You can see an interior spread of that book here.

I was glad to have the chance to say thank you for all the work Scholastic Canada does in selling my books. It also meant a lot to me that they had chosen Happy Birthday, Hamster for one of their catalogue covers.   

Thank you so much to everyone at Scholastic Canada for a wonderful morning! 

Toronto!

  I have had a lovely time in Ontario.  I've spoken to 1300 kids, visited Scholastic Canada's offices, and tried some new foods. I've seen some amazing sights, and I got to meet Amy McAuley and her family and spend time with them in Toronto. 

When I found out I would have some time off in Toronto, I asked Amy if there were any chance we could spend it together.  I was so excited when she said yes and that she was bringing her daughter!  A few years ago, Amy had told me that when she was growing up, she sometimes watched American TV, but not all the candy that was advertised was available in Canada.  So a little later, as a surprise, I mailed her some of that candy (Mounds, Almond Joy, etc) as a surprise. 

So I asked if her kids would like some more.  I went a little crazy!



"Nuts" is one of the things the custom officers ask about.  I panicked a little, because I didn't really think about it as I was buying candy. Standing in the customs line, I was trying to remember what I had brought! 

"Nuts?"  the customer officer asked.

"All the nuts are in candy bars," I said. "Almond Joy, Snickers. . . "

He stopped me right there. "That's okay. Go ahead."

Whew! 

I flew in a very little plane.  Not the smallest commercial flight I've taken (Nantucket had 9 seats, this one had 18), but this was a 2-hour flight.  One of the pluses is that I had a window seat AND an aisle seat all in one!



I was so excited to meet Amy and her beautiful daughter!  We went to lunch and then took the ferry out to Toronto Island.  Amy's mom and her sister joined us, too!  It was gorgeous out there. 

   

And I saw some some fun animals.  We don't have black squirrels in Maine.



 The swans showed me their best sides!

  Canada Geese in CANADA!

And suddenly, a little brown animal was running along the wall next to the lake.

   Amy's sister told me it's a mink! 

Then we took the ferry back to the city.  Toronto is such a clean and pretty city--I just loved it!

     


   

     

  

I had a great day, and look what Amy gave ME!  I have been really enjoying trying these Canadian candies!  And I love the ducky so much. It will always remind me of my trip to Ontario.