Philippa Dowding's Blog, page 8
February 19, 2017
Book lovers save 40% off!
BOOK-LOVERS! SAVE 40% off middle-grade, YA, mystery, fiction and non-fiction, at the Dundurn Press Hotlist sale!
You can pick up a copy of Carter and the Curious Maze for just $5.99 - instead of $9.99!
Or Elle Wilde's Strange Things Done, or Kim Thomspon's Darkling Green and much, much more to love.
Don't wait, the sale is only for a few weeks.
Go to the link, use coupon code HOTLIST40, and get reading! https://www.dundurn.com/news/Take-40-...
Here's a longer blog post about the sale: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2017/02/...
Happy reading! (and who isn't happy getting books at 40% off?)
February 12, 2017
Goodreads Giveaway for my Red Maple sequel
Whatever happened to Gwendolyn Golden?
Find out in Everton Miles is Stranger than Me.
Enter the Goodreads Giveaway for this Red Maple sequel now (expires Feb 18): https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
Here's a longer blog post about Everton Miles is Stranger than Me: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2017/02/...
Good luck!
January 29, 2017
PD James in January
I have a guilty literary pleasure: every January, I read a PD James novel. It started a long time ago, in 1986, when I saw Northrop Frye buying a PD James novel in the World's Biggest Bookstore.
Hey, if PD James was good enough for Northrop Frye ...
There's plenty of restorative tea, rolling English countryside and eccentric villagers, more than enough to hold back a dark January night. Over the years, Baroness James has also become a literary hero: she published well into her 90s, and wrote for over 50 years.
A tough, talented writer! This month's read? An Adam Dalgleish novel, #12, The Murder Room. If anyone needs me, I'll be lost in New Scotland Yard ...
Here's a longer blog post: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2017/01/...
January 10, 2017
On stage with Kenneth Oppel, Lena Coakley and more!
I'm totally honoured to be asked to join fellow CANSCAIP/OLA Forest of Reading nominees on stage at the OLA SuperConference this year.
I'll be talking about my Silver Birch Express nominated title, Myles and the Monster Outside, writing horror for middlegrade kids, story inspiration, and more. Please join me on Feb 3 at @ 11:15 to listen in.
I'll also be at the OLA Forest of Reading breakfast that morning, (8:00-9:00) chatting with other authors. My amazing illustrator Shawna Daigle will also be there with me.
After that, I'll be signing copies of my new book, Everton Miles is Stranger than Me, at the Dundurn booth at 10:30, along with fellow Dundurn authors Melody Fitzpatrick and Sylvia McNicoll.
Hope you'll come say hi sometime during the day! Happy OLA!
January 2, 2017
Everton Miles is Recommended by the CCBC!
"A must-read for Gwendolyn Golden fans, this latest addition to the Night Flyer's Handbook series will not disappoint."
Thank you to the Canadian Children's Book Centre and the inestimable Amy Mathers, for the very lovely review of my latest book, Everton Miles is Stranger than Me. It's book 2 in the Night Flyer's Handbook series, following The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden, a Red Maple nominee in 2015.
If you enjoy magic realism, YA, flying teenagers, fallen Rogue Spirits and stories where the answers to life's mysteries can still be found in enormous 800-page handbooks, read on: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2017/01/...
December 18, 2016
"Wildly creative, wonderfully strange"
"Philippa Dowding's wildly creative, wonderfully strange stories are the kind of books that turn young readers into book lovers. With pages full of lovable misfits and regular kids caught up in otherworldly happenings, a new Philippa Dowding book is a cause for celebration."
What kind words for my new book, Everton Miles is Stranger than Me from OpenBook, thank you!
On their blog this week, I talk about the main characters in the book, and give some writing tips about dialogue, naming characters and more.
Here's a taste:
OB:
Some writers feel characters take on a "life of their own" during the writing process. Do you agree with this, or is a writer always in control?
PD:
I think most writers will tell you that their favourite characters came to them in a flash of inspiration, or madness, then took on a life of their own during the writing of their story. That’s definitely how it is with me. I usually hear a character’s voice loud and clear right from the start, then let them take me wherever they want to go.
It’s the best part of being a writer, I think, following a character deeper and deeper into their story.
For more of the In Character Interview on their blog, click: http://open-book.ca/News/The-In-Chara...
December 6, 2016
FREE Classroom Activity Guide for Everton Miles is Stranger than Me
Teachers & librarians! There's a wonderful new classroom activity guide for my newest book, Everton Miles is Stranger than Me. It also happens to be free, courtesy of publisher, Dundurn Press. This book is the sequel to The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden, which was shortlisted for the OLA Red Maple award in 2015.
A few of the guide questions ...
Pick a Friend for the End of the World: what qualities would you want in a friend to the end?
My Therapist is Killing Me: make a list of 3 things you'd talk to a therapist or counsellor about, then 3 things you'd NEVER discuss. What would it take to talk about the second list with someone?
Draw like a 15th Century Visionary (or just draw something): The Night Flyer's Handbook is in part illustrated by an (imaginary) 15th century artist named "T. Bosch." Pick an illustration as described in the book, and draw!
Take a look at the free activity guide now: https://www.dundurn.com/sites/default...
Themes: family, isolation, grief, loss, friendship, community, high school, fitting in, bullying, therapy, brothers and sisters
Here's a longer blog post about the guide: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2016/12/...
November 25, 2016
A tribute to Bad Aunties everywhere
We all have one, that favourite Aunt who happily breaks the rules for us, and goes along with our crazy, childhood schemes, most of the time behind our parent's backs.
Hey, what are Aunts for?
Recently, our family lost a wonderful Aunt. So here, as a tribute to naughtiness-inducing, scheme-loving Aunts everywhere, is a poem I wrote her many years ago:
My Bad Auntie
My favourite aunt is very bad!
We creep downstairs so Mom and Dad,
Won’t see us sneak cookies and cake,
Or march the dog around on skates.
We dance the hoola in our socks,
We spin tall glasses and change the clocks.
My auntie likes to startle crows,
And make a mess wherever she goes.
She plays the drums in a rock’n’roll band,
And chases donkeys along the sand,
She’s a go-cart fiend and always wins,
She plays in leaves, and spins (and spins).
My auntie blows bubbles in shapes like cats,
And bowling balls and baseball bats.
When she’s a magician I never know,
How she does it, or where she goes.
My auntie plays the flute sometimes,
And writes me poems (they always rhyme).
She climbs the trees, hangs upside down,
And chases dogs ‘round and ‘round.
We go to plays and symphonies,
And both try hard not to sneeze.
At the county fair she swan dives,
From the tippy-top of the scariest ride!
At the swimming pool, she’s a shark,
And a dinosaur at the park.
When we walk by she always stops,
For rainbow fudge at the ice cream shop.
When she’s tired she cuddles with ted,
And falls asleep in my bed.
If I asked right then I think she could,
Change for me, from bad … to good!
Here's a longer blog post about this amazing Auntie: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2016/11/...
Hey, what are Aunts for?
Recently, our family lost a wonderful Aunt. So here, as a tribute to naughtiness-inducing, scheme-loving Aunts everywhere, is a poem I wrote her many years ago:
My Bad Auntie
My favourite aunt is very bad!
We creep downstairs so Mom and Dad,
Won’t see us sneak cookies and cake,
Or march the dog around on skates.
We dance the hoola in our socks,
We spin tall glasses and change the clocks.
My auntie likes to startle crows,
And make a mess wherever she goes.
She plays the drums in a rock’n’roll band,
And chases donkeys along the sand,
She’s a go-cart fiend and always wins,
She plays in leaves, and spins (and spins).
My auntie blows bubbles in shapes like cats,
And bowling balls and baseball bats.
When she’s a magician I never know,
How she does it, or where she goes.
My auntie plays the flute sometimes,
And writes me poems (they always rhyme).
She climbs the trees, hangs upside down,
And chases dogs ‘round and ‘round.
We go to plays and symphonies,
And both try hard not to sneeze.
At the county fair she swan dives,
From the tippy-top of the scariest ride!
At the swimming pool, she’s a shark,
And a dinosaur at the park.
When we walk by she always stops,
For rainbow fudge at the ice cream shop.
When she’s tired she cuddles with ted,
And falls asleep in my bed.
If I asked right then I think she could,
Change for me, from bad … to good!
Here's a longer blog post about this amazing Auntie: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2016/11/...
November 5, 2016
Everton Miles gets an "E" for Excellent
"Author Dowding describes her heroine’s heart breaking several times until she has to face the powerful darkness of the Shade. It is at that point that she discovers the inner strength borne of her deep affection and sincere joy for those around her and those who are no longer.
Dowding’s effective use of magic realism gives this novel the flexibility to reconcile the minutiae of everyday life with the huge events that can derail it, allowing a resolution that neither diminishes nor exaggerates either of these polar opposites."
What a great review for my latest YA magic realism story, Everton Miles is Stranger than Me, thank you, Resource Links Magazine. It's been a few years since they've given me an "E", it's not that easy to get one!
Everton's story is the sequel to The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden, an OLA Red Maple nominee in 2015. The series is called The Night Flyer's Handbook.
Here's a longer blog post about the review, and more about Everton: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2016/10/...
October 14, 2016
Forest of Reading Nomination 2017!!
I could not be more honoured to announce that Myles and the Monster Outside is a Forest of Reading Silver Birch Express 2017 nominee!
Thank you to the Ontario Library Association, to my wonderful illustrator, Shawna Daigle, and to my publisher Dundurn Press, for believing in a strange little story! Congrats also to all the nominees.
Here's the complete list across the grades: http://www.accessola.org/web/OLA/Fore...
And here's a longer blog post on my other blog: http://phdowding.blogspot.ca/2016/10/...
Thank you all, and let the reading begin!
