Usher and Akon

I went to an Usher concert the other day. Let me set the stage for you. Vancouver and it's pouring rain and my son, our friend and I and, oh about 20 thousand other people stream onto Rogers stadium. We all find our seats ( yes we were sitting apart-who wants embarrassing old mum sitting next to them after all) and the concert started. At first two men and a turntable came on and I thought did we come all the way to Vancouver for this? But then Akon came on and the crowd exploded and all was good. Favourite moments? When Akon put on a Canucks jersey and the crowd exploded. When Usher rode a platform across the arena in a space man's suit and watching my boys have the time of their lives. Worse moment? When Usher dripped sweat all over the girl he brought up on stage. Is Usher sweat worth more than most people's. She seemed to think so, but oh yuck.

Two Weeks Two Launches

In the past two weeks I’ve launched Storm Tide twice, once with Jodi Ludgren, and once with 8 other Orca book writers. They were both fun, and what I learned about book launches is that they’re really an excuse to see all kinds of friends who you don’t normally get to see, but like at weddings, you don’t get a chance to spend much time with them. So thanks so much to all of you who came out to either of the launches, and I hope we get more time together soon.
What I loved most about both events was listening to other writers’ stories about how their books came about and their writing or illustrating process. I had no idea how labour intensive illustrating graphic novels is!
It was also really fun to talk about my own writing process, and to read from my book. My favourite moment: when my seven year old friend came up to me and said, “You made me want to read your book.” Yahoo.