Author: Marsha

I write historical fiction, mostly from the perspective of young people who are thrust in the midst of war.

A shout-out to Karen Autio

Karen Autio is a gifted author of books for children and she’s written from a broad range of themes, most recently, inclusion and friendship.

I first met Karen decades ago but we live at opposite ends of the country so don’t see each other that often. We met up before the launch and had dinner together and then throughout the launch, she looked after me, bringing cookies, making sure I didn’t lose things, taking pictures.

Check out her books! They are WONDERFUL!

Karen Autio

Koota Ooma book launch!

Dare I say that I absolutely LOVE Koota Ooma? And it’s not just because a book display like this is every author’s dream. It’s also because the entire Koota Ooma team is just so nice and knowledgeable about Ukrainian-themed books and Ukrainian language books. They also have the BEST and unique Ukrainian items, like clothing, houseware and jewelry.

Here are some photos from the event.

Visiting Josyf Cardinal Slipyj School

It is always such a pleasure visiting students and educators at Josyf Cardinal Slipyj Catholic School in Etobicoke! Ms Daciuk had a big stack of books all sorted and ready to sign — Koota Ooma Ukrainian Bookstore kindly got books over to the school before my visit.

A big crowd of students packed into the tiny gym and I presented Under Attack, comparing Russia’s current actions of kidnapping and brainwashing Ukrainian children to what Nazi Germany did in WWII to Polish and Ukrainian children in their Lebensborn program.

Visiting Stratford & District Christian School

Such a nice day today at Stratford Christian school! The four students in the photo below were my helpers for the day. They showed me around, got me water and a table. All four also happen to be avid readers of my books, so I wanted to get a pic! I wasn’t sure if they needed their faces covered, so we took them both ways. Please note, in addition to my books, I’m holding a copy of the heart-pounding adventure, Swimming With Spies, by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger. There was a Scholastic Book Fair in the library, so I pointed out Chrystyna’s book because not only is it an excellent read, but in many ways, it’s a prequel to Under Attack.

I did presentations with the younger students with Silver Threads. The copy I read from was the second edition and some of the students pointed out that it looked different from the one they were familiar with, which turned out to be the first edition, published in 1996! There is now a third edition and it looks different again!

This was an all-Ukrainian-themed day today, as SDCS has paired with a Christian school in Ukraine.

Lots of good listening and great questions from students. There was also one request, that I name one of my characters Edwin in an upcoming book. I told Edwin that he’d have to wait until at least 2027 because my next two books are already written, but I love the name Edwin, so as long as it fits the story, I’ll do it! Other students asked if I could include their names as well, but I said one per school.

First in-person presentation for Under Attack

It was such a pleasure to speak with grade 4/5 students from Paris Central students at the Brant County Library in Paris. These students were well-read and had great questions. My favourite? Did you write this book on a typewriter? I didn’t, but I do have a really old typewriter in the basement — it’s from 1915!