I’m presenting at the Vancouver Writers Festival this week, which is entirely unlike what I usually do with my time (ie. sit in front of my computer wearing grubby clothes, eating popcorn, and wondering why I seem to have named all my characters after people’s great aunts).

Yesterday’s presentation was about my new non-fiction book, Under Pressure: The Science of Stress. Ironic, because I was feeling more than a little anxious as I sat backstage waiting for my cue.

The event went very well, though. The kids were engaged and eager to volunteer (whew!), a big group of writer friends surprised me by getting tickets and planting their friendly faces along one side of the stage, and I only accidentally wore cat ears for half the time.

After the presentation, I went to not one, but TWO PARTIES! And I held a drink and a plate of snacks in one hand without spilling them on myself or on other people.

I know. Crazy.

Tomorrow, I’m at Event #34: Empowered Kids with Michael Hutchinson and Sara Cassidy. My daughter’s attending, so I can embarrass her by talking about which parts of Mya’s Strategy to Save the World are based on real life.

And then… would you believe… there’s ANOTHER PARTY?!?

I’m very grateful to be at the Writers Festival, and it’s run by the world’s smartest, kindest people, including a massive array of fabulous volunteers. A big thank you to artistic director Leslie Hurtig and Senior Artistic Associate Clea Young for including me!

I had a wonderful time at Word Vancouver yesterday. I was at the children’s stage with the talented Kathryn Shoemaker, Lee Edward Fodi, and Mahtab Norsimhan. Missing in this photo is Norma Charles, who was there both to moderate our Between Worlds panel and to introduce her own new book, The Tree Musketeers.

Word is sometimes tricky, because bad weather can scare away the crowds. (One year, the entire children’s tent blew away — fortunately without the kids inside.) But this year, we had glorious sunshine and lots of happy readers gathered ’round. There were seniors and toddlers and teens… including my daughter, who I thoroughly embarassed by sharing the real-life stories that inspired Mya’s Strategy to Save the World.

Sorry, Silence!

While I was at the festival, I had the chance to see lots of inspiring writers and storytellers in action, including Kallie George, there to introduce her oh-so-lovely Anne of Green Gables adaptation, Anne Arrives. I also met Rachel Poliquin, author of The Superpower Field Guide: Moles. After I spent her panel whispering, “I wish I’d written that!” to everyone around me, I had to introduce myself.

Even the audience at Word was stacked with writers I wanted to talk to. Thanks to Stacey Matson, Kirsten Pendreigh, and Mark David Smith for coming out!

And thank you, Word Vancouver, for having me! It was bookish fun from start to finish.

I’m writing this blog post from the deck of Hillcrest Pool, surrounded by a million children. The lifeguards here are the most patient people in existence.

A few minutes ago, my son turned up dripping by my side to say he’d lost his friend in the pool during a game of hide and seek. I thought I might have to explain to the friend’s mom that her son had drowned as I was supposed to be supervising, but then I found the friend, sitting on a lounge chair. It turns out my son is as bad at finding friends in the pool as he is at finding socks in his sock drawer.

Trying to write on the pool deck is not so different than trying to write at home these days. My desk is on our stairway landing, which is perfectly fine during the school year, but significantly less convenient when my house is full of children.

My wise friend Stacey suggested I think of this as the season for inspiration and input rather than for productivity, and this idea has been helpful.

On the subject of input, I’m on the final pages of The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben and the book is mind-blowing. Trees communicate. They taste and smell things. They nurse their young. And this is all science, not Lord of the Rings. I will never again see a forest in the same way.

I hope you’re enjoying the summer, with all of its hiding, seeking, and splashing. I’m off to hug a tree, ponder the existence of ents, and think about what I’ll write once my office is again my own.

Hello, friends!

Mya’s Strategy to Save the World is officially published this month! On April 25th, I’m having a joint book launch with Kallie George, at Kidsbooks on Broadway. I hope you can come!

The launch is free, but if you’re planning to attend, you should RSVP here.

And, before you go, here’s a bit more about Kallie’s Wings of Olympus, a book full of adventure and daring and winged-horse love:

Aloft the slopes of mighty Mount Olympus, winged horses glide among the sun-splashed meadows. It’s a world full of gods and heroes, of daring and intrigue. It is not a place where one would expect to find a lost, parentless girl like Pippa. But destiny has taken this foundling from the mortal realm to jockey a steed in a once-a-century race of winged horses. Pippa has been chosen to ride Zephyr, an undersized but spirited stallion, and now Pippa has to confront the greatest challenge of her life—achieving victory in flight.

I hope you can make it on the 25th!

I went cross-country skiing last week for the first time since high school. And I lived, with all bones and joints intact!

Friends and I drove up to Cypress in the afternoon, swooshed around in the snow for a while, stopped for dinner at the lodge, and then swooshed around again in the dark. Who knew winter could be so stunning?

AND, as a bonus, I found a cabin where Silence can live when she embarks on her hunter/trapper career.