Lisa Dalrymple's Blog, page 2

Inky Girl Interview

A year ago, Debbie Ohi interviewed Suzanne Del Rizzo and me for her Inky Girl blog. In her post, Debbie included all sorts of information and terrific visuals about the writing and illustrating process for Skink on the Brink, our road to publication and beyond…

Book Café loves this kind of book chat. To read the interview, please visit Debbie’s site, Inky Girl.

On Breathing Fire & Happy Dancing

So I finished my first novel yesterday–well, the first novel I will actually confess to having written, the first novel I can actually envision maybe someday seeing the light of day.  I didn’t post anything about it because completing that final chapter did not leave me on a high. I didn’t pour a glass of wine, do a Pharrell happy dance or even give myself a pat on the back. I actually found the moment to be sadly anti-climactic.

The entire project (20 657 words for younger readers) has been years percolating and months in the writing. It has been interrupted by family vacations, emergencies and just plain busy times. Even the final chapter–the final chapter of a 20 657 word novel; can I not get a break?–was interrupted at least 3 times and is now drivel on a page. While my rough drafts always need massive editing, this one sucks all the more as every creative impetus was squelched by phones ringing and doors being knocked upon. (And I feel no sympathy to the fresh-faced Edward Jones financial advisor who rapped on my door as I began to write the final sentence. In my recollection, I see only red and I’m certain I greeted him with nostrils flaring and breathing fire. I will never know what that final sentence was meant to be.)

However, today, as I open the file to survey the potential carnage–as the little pen icon in my Word document scribbles back and forth across the screen, showing it’s accessing all 20 657 words–I’m having my moment, my moment of looking down at this new little thing I have just created, and of wondering what it will become and where it will go…

Words on a Limb: Spotlight on Authors

Thank you, Lora and Mauricio of Words on a Limb for interviewing me for your Spotlight on Authors. Thank you also for your diligent research – an unexpected result of this interview being it finally nudged me into the world of Twitter!

At the bottom of the Words on a Limb interview, I was surprised to find images I’d never seen before of me hanging out with kids in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Eramosa, Ontario. Being far too curious to let that happen. I had to discover what what else I would find out about myself, if I finally activated that account and got Twitterpated!

The interview and the “bonus images” can be found here!

http://wordsonalimb.com/category/spotlight-on-authors/

Stewie visits Tasmania and the St. Clair River

Before I had published my first book, I had this dream of publication that it meant my work would be out there for other people–strangers even–to stumble across, maybe pick up and read, perhaps even take home to share or revisit later. I had understood that my book would be printed in runs consisting of multiple copies, distributed across Canada, maybe even occasionally abroad, and that people I had never met would actually come to know my words.

However, after my first book was published, a strange thing happened. I immediately came to assume that surely no one other than my friends and family had in their homes the copies my publishers assured me had actually sold. Every time my Amazon Author Central account would notify me that a book had sold in Ohio, I would call my mother to ask who we knew in Ohio–or who we knew who knew someone in Ohio. Every time a teacher would tell me she loves one of my books, I would ask where her own children go to school and if they knew my kids (also known as my greatest sales team!)

Imagine my shock and surprise when my husband directed me to a competition run by the St. Clair River Conservation Authority, in which Skink on the Brink (now an autographed copy of Skink on the Brink) is being included in the first place prize package–and I know no one who works with the SCRCA!

Imagine my further surprise when Marc found a blog in Tasmania and a posting written by a woman named Maureen who had spent 3 months living in Canada, taking care of her 6 year old grandson, and visiting the library regularly to see what western literary treasures they could find. I’m completely chuffed that Maureen and Gabriel picked as their favourites Skink on the Brink – along with Dr. Seuss’s If I Ran the Zoo, Rob Scotten’s Russell the Sheep and all these other fabulous books. http://cbcatas.blogspot.ca/2014/05/maureens-finds-in-canada.html

So, thank you, Maureen and Gabriel, and the unidentified book-lover in Ohio, and anyone and everyone who has invited my books into their home, for being responsible for helping to make this dream into a reality.

Launch of Book Café – Writing Process Blog Tour

While I know that I could never commit to maintaining a full blog – and kudos to all of those who do, while keeping up with their own writing, and while maintaining an actual life – I do wish I had somewhere to post relevant book news.

I have decided to let this page simply evolve into a sort of Book Café, a place where I can post reviews about great books that I’ve read, reviews of my own books, book news and links to useful articles, etc.

And I’m taking, as my inspiration for this first post, the “My Writing Process Blog Tour” in which I was invited to participate by Marsha Skrypuch.

Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch is well-known for her award-winning historical fiction and non-fiction. Recent honours include the BC Red Cedar Award for Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan’s Rescue from War, and the Ontario Silver Birch Award for Making Bombs for Hitler. Underground Soldier is the just-published companion novel to Making Bombs for Hitler. You can read Marsha’s answers to the Blog Tour questions here: http://calla2.com/2014/05/my-writing-process-blog-tour-marsha-skrypuch/

My Writing Process Blog Tour Questions

a.) What are you working on?

I’m currently completing the final edits on a Newfoundland “Twelve Days of Christmas” picture book. It’s called A Moose Goes A’Mummering and it’s based on the Newfoundland tradition of disguising yourself and going from neighbour to neighbour at Christmas-time, spreading cheer and seeing if anyone can figure out who you are. I didn’t know much about this tradition when I first started work on the project, so it has taken a lot of reading and talking to people who remember mummering themselves. The tradition sounds fabulous, full of food, fun and festivities and I’m excited to bring the story of Chris Moose and all of his mummering friends to the rest of Canada.

b.) How does your work differ from others of its genre?

I’m not sure how to answer this question, partially because my books to date have led me across a couple of different genres. However, I do like to bring the fun and the unexpected into my subtly educational stories and, while it may seem compulsive, I do also research the background facts behind my just-for-fun rhyming stories too. This is why, in Skink on the Brink, Stewie is a fully-researched, biologically accurate Common Five-lined Skink – except for the slight fact that he likes to make up silly rhymes as he runs through the forest – and why, in my Polar Bear series, the dietary preferences of the polar bear that lives at Nat’s house were fully researched also.

c.) Why do you write what you do?

Writing picture books geared at kids up to about 8 years old just feels entirely natural to me. I often feel that we all have a mental age and that mine hasn’t really changed all that much since I was 8. I remember being in Grade 3 and having a conversation with my Dad at the park near our house. I was anxious that the Big 1-0 seemed far too close for comfort. He responded by saying that, while he was sure I would love being 10, he agreed that it was pretty awesome being 8 or 9. I decided right then to hang onto my 8 year old self and she has stayed with me ever since.

d.) How does your writing process work?

I’m not sure how much of it does work. I mean, it can take me about 3 years to write a 400 word story – from its inception, to the first hurried words on paper, to the throwing it out/starting all over/charting new directions. By the time my work is finally shared with my first readers or a critique group, I’ve usually been working on it for at least a year. Then the peer editing begins, often accompanied by more throwing chunks out/writing fresh material/charting new directions. By the time a story finds its way to a publisher, it has often been in the works for 2-3 years. Then, of course, the publisher or editor shares her tips to strengthen the piece too. I think, if it weren’t for the fact that my books are finally bound and finished, I’d be editing each of them still.

Thanks for reading my very first “blog post.” Next Monday, Aimee Reid will be posting her answers to the “My Writing Process Blog Tour” questions.

 

As a child, Aimee Reid wanted to be two things: a teacher and a mother. She used an overturned laundry basket as her first pretend desk, where she created assignments for imaginary pupils and then even completed and corrected their homework! When she grew up, Aimee earned a real teacher’s desk and also had three wonderful children.

Aimee’s new picture book, Mama’s Day with Little Gray (Random House), celebrates the beauty that can be found in an ordinary day; her blog, Good Books to Share, highlights all of the ways that children’s books bring good to the world.

Check out Aimee and the answers to her Blog Tour questions here:

http://www.aimeereidbooks.com/category/blog/

That One Spooky Night – Dan Bar-el, ill. David Huyck

Grades 1-4 (Kids Can Press, 2012)

That One Spooky Night is a collection of tales about a Halloween evening filled with haunted happenings and creepy characters. These linked stories are vibrant in their comic book style of illustration and scary in the way that thrills and delights young readers.

Dan Bar-el is known for playing with traditional rhymes and stories as in his recent picture book Pussycat, Pussycat, Where Have You Been? and his earlier middle grade books such as Things are Looking Grimm, Jill. He continues to cleverly twist classic tropes to create something witty and unexpected in That One Spooky Night.

Broom with a View introduces a witch who, with her distasteful-sounding potions, ministers to the aches and complaints of all the land’s ghouls. The Fang Gang features a cabal of vampires that invites four friends into its creepy mansion, as long as they have permission for a play date. And, when the trick-or-treating is done, the “Aqua-Hero” twins meet the monster behind the 10 000 Tentacles Under the Tub.

First time children’s book illustrator, David Huyck, matches the mood of these spooky stories with a palette of blacks, oranges and murky greens. In true graphic style, the story is developed through the progression of the illustrated panels and much of the nuance is carried by the visual image, a true collaboration between author and illustrator to narrate the silences.

On any spooky night, 7-10 year old readers cuddled up under the covers with their flashlights, will find That One Spooky Night is the perfect book to devour.

Review originally published in Canadian Children’s Book News, Winter 2013

Martin on the Moon – Martine Audet, ill. Luc Melanson, trans. Sarah Quinn

Kindergarten to Grade 2 (Owlkids Books, 2012)

Martin spends a lot of time in his own little world – a world where he attempts to catch butterfly giggles with his camera and where his mother’s smile is a big, wide river. But not today. Today is the first day of school and he will listen to his teacher – his teacher whose hair is the colour of his cat and whose face reminds him of his mother’s smile, which reminds him of the river, which reminds him of the rain…

Martine Audet, translated by Sarah Quinn, leads us through the poetry in Martin’s mind until the teacher calls, “Where are you, Martin? On the moon?” Martin learns that sharing his imagination is an important way of reaching out and an exciting way to make new friends.

Nominated for the 2011 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award (French language), Audet’s story is beautifully matched with Luc Melanson’s dream-like illustrations. Both prose and visuals flow from page to page, mirroring Martin’s stream of consciousness and Melanson’s watercolours fittingly provide the ethereal landscape through which Martin’s story drifts.

In reading Martin on the Moon, young readers aged 4-8 will experience first-hand how poetry can “paint pictures in your mind and make music in your heart” and how imagination can bring new friends together.

Review originally published in Canadian Children’s Book News, Fall 2012

The Stone Hatchlings – Sarah Tsiang, ill. Qin Leng

Kindergarten – Grade 3 (Annick Press, 2012)

The fascination of young children for stones has long been a governing aspect of life around our house.  My husband and I have grown to respect this even if we don’t always understand it the way Sarah Tsiang and Qin Leng obviously do.

Their respect for the way Abby sees the “two heavy eggs” she has found is a significant part of what makes this book so valuable. It is obvious that Abby has to bring the eggs inside, make them a nest out of sweaters and sit on that nest until the little birds hatch. They are never described as imaginary and are only ever referred to as stones by those who may not share Abby’s understanding – certainly never by the narrator.

Neither is Abby’s perspective ever minimized by Qin Leng’s illustrations. Instead, the light sketches in marker shed light on Abby’s wondrous reality as the stone hatchlings follow her around the house or sing on her windowsill.

Refreshingly, Abby’s whimsical view of the world doesn’t change over the course of the story. Instead, her growth occurs when she realizes that, of course, even stone hatchlings must be set free.

This book will appeal to all 4- to 8-year-old stone loving children and will speak to the hearts of their parents. As Abby’s mother and father watched her sit on her nest during dinner, I’m so glad we’ve been known go back home and get that special stone that just had to join us up at the cottage.

Review originally published in Canadian Children’s Book News, Fall 2012

Return to Bone Tree Hill – Kristin Butcher

Grades 5-10  (Thistledown, 2009)

A true mystery of my favourite sort, this story kept me guessing until the very last minute. Is Charlie Castle in fact dead and, if so, who killed him? To answer these questions, Jessica has to revisit the events of the summer her family moved from Victoria, the summer she played with Charlie and her other friends on Bone Tree Hill – the summer she contracted meningitis and about which she can remember very little.

But Jessica is haunted by dreams that are becoming rapidly more horrific as they begin to include details of Charlie’s rage, a bloodied shovel and Jessica looking down over Charlie’s lifeless body. She determines she has no choice but to return to Bone Tree Hill to discover for herself what role she played in Charlie’s disappearance.

Jessica is a skilfully layered character. Although she has possibly been responsible for the violent death of a friend, her unwavering commitment to uncovering the truth and to revealing frightening details about her past offer her depth and render her a sympathetic protagonist.

Butcher’s story is woven around Jessica’s hazy understanding of reality and it is this uncertainty that assures the mystery’s success. The clues are not hard facts to be uncovered but they are a turning over of events in Jessica’s mind as she struggles to make sense of them and to understand why her subconscious refuses to let her remember.

Return to Bone Tree Hill is a true page-turner and a highly recommended Young Adult read.

Larf – Ashley Spires

Preschool to Grade 2 (Kids Can Press, 2012)

Larf enjoys his quiet life in the woods, alone but for his pet bunny, Eric. He jogs, observes nature and, on Wednesdays, he does laundry. If he were ever discovered, people would never leave him alone, for Larf is a sasquatch, you see.

While he enjoys his solitary existence, Larf is drawn to the spectacle of a sasquatch appearing in nearby Hunderfitz. Sadly, Larf discovers that the small-footed character is nothing but a big fake. But what if Larf weren’t the only sasquatch drawn to Hunderfitz by the appearance? And what if Larf discovers that he’s not the only sasquatch after all?

In Larf, Ashley Spires has created another fun and engaging character. Kids will love the bright hand-painted illustrations and the ludicrous idea of a sasquatch who loves cheesy movies and eats vegetables with a knife and fork. As always, it is in the visual details that Spires’ humour is strongest – Eric, the bunny, being toted in a baby carrier, Larf’s mug that reads #1 Sasquatch, when he is supposed to be the only sasquatch in the world, and red Mary Jane shoes adapted for enormous sasquatch feet.

As an illustrator and a writer, Spires allows her stories to grow organically from sketches of the characters. In Larf, as you would expect, this results in a fun, character-driven story that more than makes up for any minor narrative flaws with an incredible amount of humour. And who doesn’t enjoy a couple of Larfs from time to time?

Review originally published in Canadian Children’s Book News, Summer 2012