Philippa Dowding's Blog - Posts Tagged "the-gargoyle-at-the-gates"

I can't tell you (dear reader) how totally honoured I am that The Gargoyle at the Gates is a starred review book in the spring edition of the Canadian Children Book Centre's (CCBC) Best Books for Kids & Teens 2013. I simply cannot believe the awesome company that my book is in!
A few of the other starred reviews this year: Arthur Slade (Hunchback Assignments, bk 4), Deborah Ellis (Parvana's Journey), Cary Fagan (The Boy in the Box), Shane Peacock (Becoming Holmes) and Gordon Korman (Ungifted).
Thanks CCBC, very very honoured indeed.

I'm happy to say that The Gargoyle at the Gates is being reprinted this week. That's great news, although the first run wasn't huge, of course, it's always nice to hear that your book is selling well enough to reprint within the first year or in this case, within six months, of publication.
Very very honoured, thank you all for the support from the public and from nominating bodies like the Diamond Willow, Hackmatack and Red Cedar awards, as well as the CCBC and the International Youth Library in Munich. These reader's choice nominations and commendations are so welcome and appreciated by every author.
You'll know if you have a first edition of The Gargoyle at the Gates, since the first edition has a pull-quote on the front cover, from CM magazine. The reprint will not have the pull-quote on the front cover, but that will be the only difference. Happy indeed!

So pleased and very, very honoured to say that The Gargoyle at the Gates, book three in my Lost Gargoyle series, has been nominated for a Silver Birch Express 2014 award! Wuhoo!

Thank you to the Ontario Library Association, and thank you to my hardworking (long suffering?) publisher, Dundurn Press. A nomination like this shines the light on my characters and my book, yes, but I'd like to reflect some of that light onto the book people, the librarians, the readers and the hard working people behind the scenes (my editor, publicist and marketing manager come immediately to mind).

I'm really looking forward to another winter of school visits promoting gargoyles, Toronto and reading. Here's a link to another blog post about the nomination: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2013/10/...

I didn't get to meet Gordon Lightfoot last time I was nominated in 2012, but hey, maybe this year K'naan will show up! THAT would be very, very cool!

It's the stroke of midnight ... and the gargoyles come out to dance!

Listen to the Gargoyle Ballet: https://soundcloud.com/phdowding/the-...

Inspired by a scene from The Gargoyle at the Gates (p. 91), written and played by the author. Enjoy!

What a great week! I received a lovely gift in the mail, from a teacher and her students in Northern Ontario. They made me 3 awesome buttons for my OLA Silver Birch Express nominated book, "The Gargoyle at the Gates" and a gargoyle friendship bracelet, cuz, you know, everyone wants to be friends with a gargoyle!!

I LOVE their gifts (thanks guys!). Here's a photo on my other blog: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2014/03/...

Plus, some time ago I won a Kobo from my publisher's annual party in January. I'm the queen of terrible selfies (I hardly ever take them, it's been three months since I last used my camera), so if you'd like to see a photo of me looking uncomfortable, you'll find it there, too.

This may be the highest praise an author can get from a 5th grader, but I received it today. I had a fantastic time at a school in Clarkson, Ontario, reading to a class from my third book, the Silver Birch nominee The Gargoyle at the Gates. They had gargoyle statues made out of clay, and drawings for me, and they had choreographed "the gargoyle shuffle" which they danced while I played the song on my guitar. Honestly, what a great day!

To see photos of the gargoyle statues (and the thank you note about books being better than candy), here's my other blog: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2014/04/...

Sweet!

I live in Toronto, and so far I have set three of my children's novels in this city. It's a great city to write about, with a lake, an island, a subway, a busy downtown with iconic buildings, and parks. Lots of parks.

I created an imaginary park for my third book, The Gargoyle at the Gates. I made a space with bushes, a wrought iron fence, a seahorse fountain, chess tables, and benches for sitting and listening to the gentle bubbling of the fountain. I called it Gatepost Park because I also imagined two gargoyles perched on the gates.

So far, the park only exists in my imagination, although it would be lovely if it really existed. If you ever find it, please send pictures! However, there is a park upon which Gatepost Park is loosely based, called Leslie Grove Park, in Toronto's east end. I went looking for pictures for a powerpoint presentation I'm doing, and found a very, very interesting bench, involving apples which figure large in my book. It's not quite Gatepost Park, but it's still pretty magical.

Here's a blog post: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2014/04/...

Wow. That was fun. I just spent three days in the Near North in the company of 12 other fantastic authors, dozens of dedicated librarians and OLA staff, and THOUSANDS of kids, all excited about books and the Forest of Reading.My book, The Gargoyle at the Gates, has been nominated for a Silver Birch Express award. Thank you to everyone for making the tour so fun and memorable.

A few teeny anecdotes:
1. Michael Glassbourg, one of the other authors on tour, looked awfully familiar when he climbed into the van at the end of his work day. Turns out, he's been my neighbour (he lives one street away) for 20 years. It took an author tour for us to meet. Huh.
2. Kari-Lynn Winter does a FANTASTIC moose call.
3. When a child tells you that you are her favourite author of all time, it would be very easy to burst into tears (but you don't).
4. Somehow, no matter how many bookmarks you sign, they magically never run out!
Here's a blog post with photos: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2014/05/...

Well, the OLA Forest of Reading is over for another year! I had a great time, my book The Gargoyle at the Gates was a Silver Birch Express nominee this year, and I have to say the experience of meeting thousands of kids (on the Near North tour, at the Harbourfront and Durham events), the OLA staff, wonderful librarians, teachers and the other fantastic authors ... it just adds up to a great, great adventure. I didn't win the grand prize (my friend Rebecca Upjohn won for her lovely book, The Secret of the Village Fool), but I did win two regional votes, the Near North and the Durham county. But frankly, being nominated, touring the province, and having so much fun ... that kind of feels a lot like winning. Here's a blog post with more photos and thoughts: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2014/05/...

Next week, I head to New Brunswick for another author tour, this time for the Hackmatack tour, which is the final leg of this gargoyle party, at least until I write another book. Until then, thanks everyone, for all the fun.

What a blast! I have just returned from a 6-day tour of New Brunswick and P.E.I., courtesy of the Hackmatack Awards and the Canada Council. My book, The Gargoyle at the Gates, was a nominee and although I didn't win (congrats to Ashley Spires and her book, Binky Takes Charge), I had a wonderful time.

A few highlights: the world's largest fiddleheads, a giant lobster, great kids, dedicated librarians, wonderful authors, the gargoyle shuffle, 1000 km of driving and lots of Tim Hortons.

Thanks to all! Here's a link to my longer blog post with photos. http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2014/06/...