Kevin Sylvester's Blog, page 15

Smiling

As you may have heard, Neil Flambé and the Tokyo Treasure has been nominated for the John Spray Mystery Award. This is one of the many great awards that TD Bank supports through the Canadian Children's Book Centre - although John Spray himself backs this one!





Well, it's pretty amazing to be nominated and the group of fellow nominees is top notch. (Winner is announced in October at the big TD awards night.)

The nicest thing for me was the lovely description of the book from the judges....

"Filled to the brim with humour and wit, Neil Flambé and the Tokyo Treasure is a joy to read… Characters and location make reading the book an adventure, and the dramatic cooking battles keep the pace lively as the story develops … Sylvester's prose is delicious and Flambé is a character who will never spoil."

:)

Sigh

Just got back from an amazing cottage we rented in Georgian Bay.

I did a little sketch as a thank you present for the owners.

Clearly an inspiring and restful place.

Day 6 doodling

I always doodle on my scripts when I'm working at the CBC.

I've been hosting Day 6 this week.

Grumpy Cat was one of the subjects, so I doodled the downcast feline going a little over the edge.

Love Mail!

Just got a great (surprise) package from Simon and Schuster.

Neil Flambe #4 has gone to a second printing!

Prize winner?

In my view a book is a dead thing after I'm done with writing it. It's just paper and board... until someone reads the story and created their own view of my world in their mind.

And I am always inspired by how that world comes alive.

So, this week breakfast with me was the "prize" for a group of school kids who competed in the Kids Lit Quiz Canada.

But they treated ME with a whole menu made up of Neil Flambe inspired foods!



Quiche!
Capers!
Chai! (not poisoned... I think)
Scones!
Grape and Cheese!
AND... they gave me a bag of home-made preserves!

I realized pretty quickly that I'd WON the prize!

Inspiration

I'm often (always) asked at schools "where do you get your inspiration?"

With writing, it comes from the thrill of hearing and (I hope) telling an exciting story.

With drawing, it's a bit different. I try to explain to kids that my brain looks for patterns everywhere - in wood grain, in the curve of a dark hair on white tile flooring, in shadows in clothing.

I was at Hillcrest School this week, and saw a perfect example of what I'm talking about. This basketball hoop in the school gym is clearly a cat.


Here's what my brain sees... and then I just have to draw that face.



And the bars on the top could even be the antennae on an alien kitty!

It's not the only place I find inspiration, but it does illustrate the maxim that inspiration often finds you.

Neil Flambe in a pot

From today's visit to Second Street School!

daily doodles

Over on my Facebook page I'm putting up daily doodles. Little exercises to practise my computer drawing skills.

Here's today's doodle - just to show you what's up.



Feel free to LIKE my page when you are there as well.

Look what came in the mail today!

SO happy that Splinters was named a Blue Spruce Honour Book!


What makes the whole Forest of Reading program so special is that the students choose their favourites!

Festival of Hope

My buddy Steve Vernon (blog here) made a great comment at the Forest of Reading ceremony at Harbourfront this week. He called it a "Festival of Hope" because of all the great readers in the crowd.

He's 100% right, and not just about the next generation of readers and writers.

Just check out the next generation of illustrators!

Yesterday, Lois (who's just 12!) gave me this amazing present at the Silver Birch party in Whitby.




And she had a whole sketchbook full of equally great artwork.

Wow.