I have been awarded the Order of Princess Olha, by Victor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine.

The state awards of Ukraine are the highest form of honor of the citizens for outstanding achievements in development of economy, science, culture, social sphere, defense of Motherland, protection of man’s constitutional rights and freedoms, state building and public activity, for other services before Ukraine. The state awards are set exclusively by the laws of Ukraine.

The citizens of Ukraine, foreigners and stateless persons may be decorated with the state awards.

Decorating is conducted by the decree of the President of Ukraine. The recipient gets the state award and the document which certifies decorating thereof.

– the Order of Princess Olha of I, II, III class – to honor the women for distinguished services in state, production, public, scientific, educational, cultural, charity and other spheres of public activity, bringing up children in family

The “bringing up children in family” is an interesting addendum.

And here is what the medal looks like:

Here is the cover for Daughter of War, which is coming out in May:

This is the sequel to Nobody’s Child and The Hunger. Here’s the dustjacket blurb:

Teenagers Kevork and his betrothed Marta are the lucky ones. They have managed so far to survive the Armenian genocide in Turkey, and both are disguised as Muslims. But Marta is still in Turkey, pregnant with another man’s child. And Kevork is living as an Arab in Syria.

Kevork yearns to get back into Turkey and search for Marta, but with the war raging and the genocide still in progress, the journey will be impossibly dangerous. Meanwhile, Marta worries that even if Kevork has survived and they are reunited, will he be able to accept what she has become? And what has happened to her sister, Mariam, who was sold as a slave to the highest bidder?

Daughter of War is a gripping story of enduring love and loyalty set against the horrors of Turkey during World War I.

Good news for Aram!

Aram’s Choice and its sequel, Call Me Aram, are being made into a theatrical production and it will be staged at the Georgetown Little Theatre in May 2008.

I am thrilled about this because the Armenian orphans featured in both of my books were raised at an orphanage in Georgetown Ontario. My stories are being adapted by the children who will play the varous roles, with help from producer Sam Hancock.

And the timing is awesome. Call Me Aram comes out in May 2008, as does Daugher of War.

The other neat thing is that Aram’s Choice has been nominated for the Golden Oak Award.

The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association

cordially invites you to the Toronto launch of

Marsha Skrypuch’s newest novel:

Prisoners in the Promised Land:

The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk

Spirit Lake, Quebec, 1914

(Scholastic Canada)

when:

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

7:00 PM

where:

The Library

Royal Canadian Military Academy
426 University Ave.

(South of Dundas on the WEST side of University Ave.
St. Patrick Subway Station)

Books will be available for sale and autograph. Proceeds donated to UCCLA

for further information, contact pr@uccla.ca

The plaque unveiling and book launch was awesome! The day before the launch/unveiling, there was a huge article in the Montreal Gazette about the Ukrainians of Point St. Charles who were interned during WWI as enemy aliens. Lots of good quotes and some poignant photographs. The article was written by Monique Polak, a fellow CANSCAIPer and all-round awesome person. I’d like to get her to join kidcrit but she’s way too busy!

Here’s a bit about Monique.

Since getting back from Montreal, I’ve been working on Roxolana, albeit still very slowly. I’m expecting the edits for Daughter of War any day now and am looking forward to plunging in. Maybe that will jumpstart Roxolana.

I also saw the cover for Daughter of War. It is STUNNING! I can hardly wait to show it off!

You are cordially invited to attend the unveiling of the commemorative plaque recognizing the many kindness shown by the YMCA to our people recalling the imprisonment of Ukrainians and other Europeans as “enemy aliens” during Canada’s first national internment operations of 1914-1920.

The plaque will be installed at the YMCA: Centre-Ville / Downtown Centre YMCA 1440 rue Stanley, Montreal, Quebec, on Saturday, 29 September 2007, at 11:00 a.m.

Immediately following the plaque unveiling, there will be a:

Book Launch of

Prisoners in the Promised Land
The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk
by
Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Reception to follow

What do you do to avoid writing? I have cleaned the fridge, got the bills all up to date, and the house doesn’t look too bad. All ten of my scrabulous games on facebook are waiting for someone else to make a move. I guess this means I must write.

The novel I’m working on is set in the 1500s in what is now Ukraine but was Poland-Lithuania. I did TONS of research (that’s another way to avoid writing). This week, I finally began writing in earnest. Sum total of the week? A few hundred words.

Maybe someone’s made a move in scrabble ….

If you’re a kid who loves to write, you’re in luck! There’s a brand new magazine out that specializes in publishing writing and illustrations by kids.

It’s been a fine balancing act, arranging the schedules and speakers for Brantford Book Camp, Burlington Book Camp and Brantford Summer Writing Workshops (SWW). But it is all looking so good! Everything has come together beautifully!

Sylvia McNicoll, who is the opening speaker at Burlington Book Camp, had a lovely write-up about her and Book Camp in the Burlington Post.  There was also a tiny plug for the Brantford camp in a round-up of book reviews that I did for Saturday’s Expositor.

Both of the Brantford camps are full, but I think there still may be a spot or two available at Burlington Book Camp.

Many of the people participating in the Brantford SWW are already published — some in book form, and quite a few are newspaper and magazine journalists. And they’re coming from all over!

I can hardly wait til next week!!

Mahtab Narsimhan, brand new fantasy author extraordinaire, has a new blog. Check it out.