Category: Uncategorized

This ran in the Kitchener and Guelph newspapers. Thank you, Jean Mills!!!

news.therecord.com/article/704713

www.armenianweekly.com/2010/05/07/st-stephens-school/

I’m visiting a few cities at the end of April/early May to promote my
most recent novel, Stolen Child.

Here are the public events I’ll be at. If you have the time and
inclination, please drop by and say hi!

Sunday, April 25

3PM:
presentation open to the public at:
Ukrainian Orthodox Parish Hall
1935 Barlee Road
Kelowna, BC V1Y 4S3

Monday, April 26
6:30pm
Vernon Elks Hall
3103 – 30th Street
Vernon, BC

Tuesday, April 27
6:30 PM
Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex,
9615 – 153 Avenue,
Edmonton

Thursday, April 29
7:30pm
Oseredok Ukrainian Cultural Centre
184 Alexander Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3B 0L6

Tuesday, May 4
7:30
McNally Robinson
Saskatoon SK

Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb

My rating: 1 of 5 stars
I picked up this book at a hotel kiosk when I was desperate for some light reading as a respite from a three day marathon session of writing. Oh my gosh it was bad! How is it that books like this have so many readers? The story is set in the distant future, but it seems the only purpose for that is so the author doesn’t have to get bogged down with story complications that she doesn’t want to develop or research. There doesn’t seem to be any consistency as to what is contemporary and what is futuristic. For example, food magically appears from an “auto chef”. This is futuristic. But people still drive around in cars that seem awfully like our cars and crimes and guns and communication devices seem like today’s. To me, this all just reads like sloppy writing. The protagonist also has a very rich husband which also just makes it easy for the author in terms of plot. Any time there could be complications in her investigation, the husband magically supplies the solution by buying it for her. Sigh. This book will be going out in my blue box.

View all my reviews >>

I just watched an amazing Yurij Luhovy documentary called Bereza Kartuzka. The documentary is produced in English and Ukrainian. I watched the English version.

For anyone interested in understanding the tensions between Poles and Ukrainians during World War II, this documentary gives context.  Bereza Kartuzka was a Polish concentration camp in which thousands of Ukrainian patriots were incarcerated between 1934 and 1939. Luhovy’s father was one of those prisoners.

When Western Ukraine was handed over to Poland in 1919 with the Treaty of Versailles, Ukrainians were promised freedom of religion, language and culture, but the Polish government wanted to Polonize Ukrainians and so they instituted a program called "pacification" — meaning Ukrainians who clung to their own language and culture were brutally punished. Thousands were shipped to the concentration camp known as Bereza Kartuzka, where they were beaten and forced to work 14 hour days, often without shoes or proper clothing. They were made to sleep in their own filth and were given starvation rations. Their days were so regimented that even defecating was done on command.

Luhovy was able to film interviews with former inmates who told of their own horrible treatment in graphic detail. He was also able to get to the site of the concentration camp itself and film the grounds. His footage was almost confiscated at the Belarus-Poland border.

Bereza Kartuzka just won The Remi Award at the 43rd Annual International Film Festival in Houston, Texas. Well deserved.

The documentary can be obtained through Luhovy’s website: www.yluhovy.com

Tumbleweed Skies by Valerie Sherrard

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Valerie Sherrard’s novels are always well-written and entertaining but this one stands out as her best of the best. Tumbleweed Skies is a tale of Ellie, a young girl in 1950s western Canada who must stay with her taciturn grandmother for the summer while her father tries his hand as a traveling salesman. The simplicity of the story lets the complexity of the characters shine through. Ellie herself stands out as a girl with a hard-luck life who refuses to be a victim. I found myself weeping on many occasions while reading this book as Ellie reacted to the rare instances of human kindness. Ellie’s grandmother is a tough nut to crack and the novel wouldn’t have been true to itself if she relented too easily. I read this novel in a single sitting and as I closed it, I wished I could read more. I would love to know what happens to Ellie as she grows. I know that she will be a remarkable woman. What I really loved about this novel was how Sherrard shows that what you see isn’t what you get. Ellie’s “friend” Marcie seems to have everything she wants, but she is not happy. Uncle Roger’s disfiguration from an accident and his tragic circumstances have only made him kinder and stronger. The same tragic circumstances have made Ellie’s grandmother bitter. The novel shows without telling that most people do live with tragedy, but it is up to us whether we take those experiences to make us bitter or better.
Well done.

View all my reviews >>

The Brantford Summer Writing Workshop brochure is online here.


In addition to those listed in the brochure, 
I have just added an extra speaker: Ali McDonald, 
new Associate Literary Agent with The Rights 
Factory specializing in middle grade and YA 
properties.

www.dancingcatbooks.com/

The brochure for SWW 2010 is now available online here.

If you’re interested in attending, do send in your registration and cheque soon to ensure you get a spot. Anyone who has participated in kidcrit, Humber or has been to SWW before does not have to submit a writing sample. Just note that on the form.

I am thrilled with the line-up. We have kids’ publishers and adult publishers, kids’ writers and an adult writer. We also have an agent who does both. The most popular aspect of SWW are the blue pencil sessions. These are 10 minute face to face opportunities with publishers, editors and an agent. Think speed dating for writers. Every participant will have several blue pencils.

I am also thrilled that Diane Kerner, director of publishing for Scholastic Canada is presenting. She will be giving everyone who wants it a flash assessment. Ie, she’ll look at a cover letter and the first page of a manuscript and give her brutal assessment of how she would deal with it if it were a submission. People can stay anonymous, but they can put their names on their submissions if they want. She will be giving the flash assessments to everyone at once and we will all have a packet of the same submissions. This will provide invaluable insight into the submission process and also give a behind-the-editor’s-desk view of that process.

A caveat: if everyone on my tentative list of attendees does indeed attend, we will only have about 4 open spots. So send in your application asap.