Kevin Sylvester's Blog, page 30
June 10, 2011
a preview of Neil #3
I've been working away on Neil Flambe #3 (The Crusader's Curse) and here's a preview of Isabella's new haircut.You may remember from Neil #2 that she lost her normally long curly locks... now it's more of a bob.
I always like drawing Isabella. She's confident, nice... but always seems to be looking back at me with wry disapproval.
May 27, 2011
May 15, 2011
Wow.
I was absolutely blown away this week. My book Neil Flambe and the Marco Polo Murders was the winner of the Silver Birch award for Fiction. This award is an author's favourite - because it's voted on by students in grades 4-6 all across Ontario. The finalists are always amazing, and the list this year was great.This is me at the ceremony on a windy day at Harbourfront.
(That's Eric Walters to my left wondering why I'm dressed like a goof... I mean chef).
May 6, 2011
Too loong...
Boy has it been a long time since I posted. OOPS. I've just wrapped up an amazing week in Quebec touring as part of the TD Bookweek! Something like 18 school visits over 5 days. I'll be at Pages in St. Leonard tomorrow. I hope to have some pics up soon. In the meantime, here are some pics from my recent research trip to Paris. I drew little Neil Flambe pics on all the placemats... did the staff throw them out? burn them? keep them? Dunno....
February 28, 2011
A while back I blogged about a wolf logo I designed for m...
A while back I blogged about a wolf logo I designed for my friend Sean's School. Well, now they are painting an official version on the gym wall... so COOL
February 26, 2011
Feeling honoured
Both Neil Flambe books AND Splinters made the Resource Links top books of 2010 list. Wow.
February 9, 2011
Canada Reads Reax
I was the backup for Jian for this year's Canada Reads. Thank goodness he didn't get sick. But I got to read all the books as prep.
Here's my personal ranking, for what it's worth.... (next to nothing really)
1. Essex County. Loved the use of the form and found the deepest characters in this work. It was moving. Too bad the graphic novel is still hampered by pictures. My goodness - does anyone prefer Alice in Wonderland or Dickens without the pictures?
2. Unless. I had tried this novel before and stopped - so I sympathise with the voters who found it a grind. I'm glad I finished it. It was actually a very sweet meditation on personal loss and losing your own sense as a person. Shield's prose can get a little twee sometimes, but at others she lifts your brain as she moves your soul. (yes, that's twee as well)
3. Best Laid Plans. THE WINNER. I was ready to dis the book after the first chapter but it's a worthy champ. The book makes a real change away from puns to some beautiful . The letters Angus writes to his wife anchor the flights of fancy that push the humourous side of the work.
4. Bone Cage. This was surprisingly strong. It should be mandatory reading for all the people who watch the Olympics and then whine when Canadians don't "win" medals. But it's much more than that. Abdou is a good writer and you can physically feel what the characters in the book are going through. That takes skill. I think she did a good job of making the reader consider decay and pain, and how they tie humans together.
5. Birth House. Not a fav. I liked many of the passages but then felt like I was reading a 1917 melodrama. I half expected Nora's husband to reveal he was really Snidely Whiplash and then tie her to a railway track while twirling his moustache. And the minister and the head of the temperance society are really "getting it on" in the church. Hmmmm.
Here's my personal ranking, for what it's worth.... (next to nothing really)
1. Essex County. Loved the use of the form and found the deepest characters in this work. It was moving. Too bad the graphic novel is still hampered by pictures. My goodness - does anyone prefer Alice in Wonderland or Dickens without the pictures?
2. Unless. I had tried this novel before and stopped - so I sympathise with the voters who found it a grind. I'm glad I finished it. It was actually a very sweet meditation on personal loss and losing your own sense as a person. Shield's prose can get a little twee sometimes, but at others she lifts your brain as she moves your soul. (yes, that's twee as well)
3. Best Laid Plans. THE WINNER. I was ready to dis the book after the first chapter but it's a worthy champ. The book makes a real change away from puns to some beautiful . The letters Angus writes to his wife anchor the flights of fancy that push the humourous side of the work.
4. Bone Cage. This was surprisingly strong. It should be mandatory reading for all the people who watch the Olympics and then whine when Canadians don't "win" medals. But it's much more than that. Abdou is a good writer and you can physically feel what the characters in the book are going through. That takes skill. I think she did a good job of making the reader consider decay and pain, and how they tie humans together.
5. Birth House. Not a fav. I liked many of the passages but then felt like I was reading a 1917 melodrama. I half expected Nora's husband to reveal he was really Snidely Whiplash and then tie her to a railway track while twirling his moustache. And the minister and the head of the temperance society are really "getting it on" in the church. Hmmmm.
February 6, 2011
nice nod for my friends and Neil Flambe
Neil Flambe gets a nice honourable mention nod from the OLA.
January 5, 2011
another
Neil Flambe heads to Tokyo in Book #4 (if it ever gets published) so this one seems to have a slight Japanese bend to the chef hat....
cooking up a doodle
I've blogged before about doodling when I'm on air. I've been drawing a lot of chefs recently.
