Philippa Dowding's Blog, page 15

3 gargoyle buttons, and a BAD selfie

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.

#1 rule for writing a YA series AND Video of the Week!

So, ask three YA authors their main rule for writing a series?

Character is king, apparently!

That, and a few other interesting things. Susan Hughes, a wonderful YA author, interviewed Moira Young, Caroline Adderson and me, about writing a YA series and posted our answers in two parts on OpenBook Toronto. Here's the link to both posts: http://www.openbooktoronto.com/writin...

And, in a banner week for me on OpenBook Toronto, they've also chosen my book trailer video for The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden, as their Video of the Week (that's me playing guitar!): http://www.openbooktoronto.com/video/...

Thanks OpenBook Toronto!

Q: What's the last book you're ever going to write?

I had a student ask me this amazing question at a classroom visit last week: what's the last book you're ever going to write?

What a stopper. I stared at the ceiling, thoughts of mortality and the blip of existence flipping through my head, thinking "how do we know when we're done anything? Life is short and most often ends abruptly." Hardly an appropriate response for a 10-year old.

What did I finally say? In a moment of clarity and companionship, I said: "I hope it's something happy, that makes other people happy, too."

I really meant it. A lovely thought, to end on a happy note, I should start that book now.

Here's my blog entry, for a fuller description:

http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2014/03/...

Thanks Middle Shelf Magazine!

So honoured that my new middle grade novel, The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden, has been selected by Middle Shelf Magazine, as a "Cool Read for Cool Kids."

This magazine is published by the Shelf Unbound folks in the U.S., and is currently offering a free subscription to all who wants one!

Here's the link to the Jan/Feb. issue, you'll find the excerpt on p. 23: http://issuu.com/shelfunbound/docs/mi...

Some great books there, go check it out. Thanks Middle Shelf!

Starred review for The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden

"This lively, fast-paced novel by the author of the Lost Gargoyle series moves fluidly from the whimsical to the fantastical and takes an intriguing detour to some dark places in between."

Here's the full text of the beautiful review from The Quill & Quire, for The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden:

http://emilydonaldson.com/wordpress/t...

Thanks Emily Donaldson and Q&Q

Book launch in a blizzard

Let there be a note in someone's "Note to Self" handbook: don't hold a book launch in a raging blizzard.

I did. I launched The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden at Yorkdale Indigo in Toronto, on Feb. 1.

It was fun, despite the weather, but I did hear some harrowing stories from book launch attendees about the perils of getting to Yorkdale in whiteout conditions. Then ... finding a place to park!

Still, we had a good time. Photos here on my other blog: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2014/02/...

Sugarplums and gargoyles

How do you become a children's author? I can't answer for anyone else, since every journey is different, but mine involved a strange antique store on Christmas Eve, and gargoyles:

http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2014/01/...

Enjoy!

Starred review from Quill & Quire

Wow. The January/February issue of the Quill & Quire magazine has a beautiful starred review of The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden. THANK YOU!

"This lively, fast-paced novel ... moves fluidly from the whimsical to the fantastical and takes an intriguing detour to some dark places in between."

It's not online yet, but here's a link to their website: http://www.quillandquire.com/

And here's another, to my other blog with a longer excerpt: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2014/01/...

Really, really honoured.

How a copywriter becomes a children's author, part 1

I was always a pretty poor essay writer, at least my university English professors, probably all of them, would likely agree. In my defense, I was much better at exams, and class work.

Anyway, my other blog has a long, wordy post about "how a copywriter becomes a children's author, part 1". It being the middle of January, and cold, I felt the need to reflect and be verbose. If you'd like to read about my early years as a copywriter, though, and how it shaped me perfectly for becoming a children's author, here's the link: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2014/01/...

Part 2 comes next week: The birth of a children's author

1 week left to win a copy of Gwendolyn Golden

Promoting a goodreads giveaway on a goodreads blog is maybe a bit of a house of mirrors, a mobius loop, an Escher drawing, call it what you will, but here goes ...

There's 1 week left to put your hand up to win one of five copies of The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden! The book is out January 25, but you can win a copy now: http://bit.ly/1hQNoDp

It's been called "a gold standard teen-cusp read" by ebooknewsca (thank you!), and is featured in this month's Middle Shelf magazine.

I hope you win!