Tag Archives: Eileen Cook

Random Monday

This is a Random Monday post, in the tradition of Eileen Cook (who, incidentally, has a new book out).

* I went for my first swim of the season at Jericho this weekend. I think there was an iceberg just out of sight, sending a current of Arctic meltwater directly to where I was swimming.

* My daughter competed in her first Tri-Kids triathlon on Sunday. She did great, but I was so nervous for her that I felt, afterwards, as if I had run my own triathlon.

* I have fallen entirely in love with Andrew Smith. I read Grasshopper Jungle earlier this year and I finished 100 Sideways Miles over the weekend. They are both brilliant.

I am now off to write a not-so-brilliant first draft. But there’s always hope, yes? Onwards…

Festivus

Eileen Cook and I spent Saturday afternoon at TeenFest Vancouver, where we talked about how to be a writer (answer: commitment with a side order of insanity) and hung out with the lovely ladies of Black Bond Books.

We resisted the urge to beat each other up in the sumo ring.

For quite a while, I thought there’d been an extraordinary number of head injuries. Then Eileen pointed out the film make-up booth.

There was also a teen talent show, featuring this girl in her light-up dress. If I’m ever invited to TeenFest again, I am definitely investing in light-up.

And that was TeenFest! Samantha, Gina, and Eileen — thanks for being great TeenFest company!

Teenfest

On May 10th, I get to discover my inner roar at Teenfest Vancouver, where Eileen Cook and I are participating in a panel discussion about girl empowerment.

I finished Eileen’s latest book on the weekend, Year of Mistaken Discoveries. It’s about a girl who gets blindsided by tragedy, and goes in search of her birth mother as a possible antidote. (I am ridiculously horrible at summarizing plots. This is sort of what the book was about. There was also friendship, romance, ambition, and emotional daring. How can I stuff all that into one sentence?)

I thought it was Eileen’s best book yet, full of unexpected truths. And as I can tell that Eileen will have plenty to say on our panel, I am now off to get in touch with my empowered side.

Live on stage (kinda)

1 Reply

I’m busy preparing for tomorrow’s trip to Citadel Middle School, where I’m giving three workshops on Storytelling Techniques in Non-Fiction. Which sounds rather boring, but actually means that I get to:

1. Tell my dad’s logging stories. (He tells them better, but I do what I can. And it’s not a fair comparison, because he gets to drink beer while telling.)

2. Hear crazy stories from students. (Last time I gave this workshop, I learned about imaginary bears in White Rock and solo flights by a sixteen-year-old.)

3. Hang out with the amazing Eileen Cook, Denise Jaden, and C.C. Humphries. (How cool is that?)

The logging stories? Well, you’ll have to book a workshop to hear them, or fly to California and ask the man himself. All I’m saying is: there’s an ice-bridge.

And Dad lived to tell the tale.