A Year later…

Just logging in to read responses and give a follow up. It’s been difficult to settle into writing with household issues taking up most of the last half of the year. I have many ideas in my head but need to remove the clutter in my house and head to get back to the routine that worked for me when I wrote When We Were Shadows.

I appreciate all the feedback received from readers and I am still suggesting the book for gifts for middle-school kids. It ranks well on Amazon for Holocaust books for children. And people are still borrowing from the library.

I hope to get back on track in the new year when we are snowed in or isolated due to extreme cold. I guess I should stop using excuses and just get down to it.

Have a great holiday season. I WILL get to it, I promise. I feel the ideas crowding out other issues in my mind so it seems that it’s time to get those ideas unleashed.

Catching up

Well, still no writing unless you count letters and emails to politicians and companies trying to sort out online refunds. Oh, and many personal letters using newest stamps, all bought online. How about that wonderful poppy stamp!

There are all sorts of ideas in my head for writing but finding the time to get them written down is time consuming. I don’t understand how my life has become too busy to write. It’s not like I am working full-time. It seems that every day something comes up and takes over my time. Then it’s time for a walk, then a nap, then supper. Netflix isn’t even being watched. It used to be that I could multitask but now one activity a day is it for me.

In the last year I have done writing related activities. In the early part I was on a jury to find a winning picture book, in April and May I presented at The Young Writers’ Conference and did a couple of virtual author visits to schools. Summer was spent on my deck reading or gathering vitamin D except when it was too hot or too smoky. Even my basement got warm; there was no escaping the heat. I got my 3 covid shots in March, May and this past Thursday. I still do curbside pick up for purchases or delivery or mail. I walk and read every day, sometimes taking the whole day to finish a book.

There are 3 new appliances in my house after replacing 32+ year old washer, dryer and 40 year old stove. Now that I have done that I am looking at other improvements, which have not been done since I moved in (1990 for carpet, and 2001 for painting). The money saved for travel will need to be used. It’s always been that travel was more important to me than household improvements.

Please look at the videos I posted here last year, for teachers to use with classes about my middle-school novel When We Were Shadows. If you want the real thing, let me know and I can virtually visit your classroom and tell you the story behind the story from WWII or how I wrote the book. I don’t charge anything to do this.

Have a great rest of the year. I hope to be more prompt with blogging once I start to write again.

Janet

Writing during a pandemic

Well, it just doesn’t happen really! I have all sorts of ideas in my head but just can’t settle down and put them to paper. However, I did figure out how to make a movie for my publisher’s YouTube site. I can’t post the video because the site won’t support it. But here is the link to the YouTube video telling about the book, made for teachers and students.

Today I also made a video of me reading a few excerpts from the book, also for teachers and students who are studying the book. I don’t have a link for it yet, but will post here when I get it.

On June 13, I will be a virtual presenter for the Calgary Young Writers’ Conference which was supposed to be in April. It will now be online so I have to learn to use Googlespeaks (is that how you spell it?). This pandemic isolation has been good for learning new skills on the computer!

I am doing a lot of reading. With the library closed, I’m finding books in my bookcase that I’ve never read. I don’t know where I got them, or why I bought some of them. So there have been some pleasant surprises. I did buy a book from Owl’s Nest in Calgary and they delivered it to me at home!

I see that I have had some views on the blog but I can’t see if there were any comments made. I like to hear from people who read the book or just want to know the story behind the story. So please leave a comment. I will try to do a weekly check, instead of once every two months! Stay safe and stay healthy!

Catching up…

I am writing this during the pandemic lock down and have been in my house alone, since March 13, except when people deliver groceries or parcels. And then it’s hello from a distance as they place the items in my garage.

I’ve not written here since December, when we lost Ze’ev.

In January, there was a signing at Chinook Indigo, the day before Holocaust Remembrance Day Canada. Many people stopped by and chatted, recalling stories from their families who’d lived through the war. More children bought books this time because they were learning about the 75 years since the end of the war and of the Holocaust. I gave my card to a few teachers, who wanted me to come speak to their classes. That’s all moot now, with the lock down.

Another signing Crowfoot Indigo in February was successful, and this time I would say even more children/teens bought the book than adults. The best part of signings isn’t only that I know many people will be reading the book, which is why I wrote it, but also the communication with everyone who has a story from someone they know about the war. We tell each other that it’s important to continue telling the stories about the survivors of the Holocaust to keep their voices alive. People need to remember and say NEVER AGAIN.

The beginning of March signaled the onset of isolation. I had cold symptoms and had also just finished a shift at the airport where I greet and meet international travelers. Because at that time I didn’t know whether I’d been in contact with anyone who had Covid19, I didn’t qualify for a test. So, I isolated from March 13 until March 27, and have just not stopped. I only drive to the neighbourhood mailbox to mail letters.

Anything that had to do with the book was cancelled. The Calgary Young Writers’ Conference where I was to present two workshops has been postponed and they are investigating the feasibility of doing it online. Another signing at Chinook Indigo to coincide with Yom HaShoah was cancelled.

My publisher, Second Story Press, had a Liberation ’75 participation planned; however, because of the lock down, they asked some of us to prepare a video of our books which were part of their Holocaust Remembrance Series for Young Readers. The videos are for teachers and students who are studying/reading the novels. We talk about our books and show how they reflect those times during WWII.

For me, making a video/movie was a huge learning curve. I was expecting difficulties because I had never done anything like that before. I took one look at iMovie and exited. Google told me that Quick Time would help. WELL! In quick time, I made a movie/video! Easy, peasy! It was a surreal experience talking to myself as an audience of one.

Of course, I still can’t edit so I depended on my competent marketing people at Second Story Press to do that and they did a great job. Now I want to make another video/movie, reading excerpts from my book, for students at home who may have read it or are in the process of reading it. I’ve also offered to use Face Time or another platform (not Zoom) to speak with classes anywhere in Canada.

Making the video was a fun four hours and it allowed me to dress up and fix my hair as best as I could. I even wore earrings and perfume! Another fun time was back in March when I discovered that Men in Kilts, a window washing outfit, was doing free shopping and delivery for seniors. Being a senior with health risks, I contacted them. Huge success and I tweeted about it on Twitter. A reporter from the Globe and Mail newspaper saw my tweet and contacted me for an interview about the service. We talked over the phone. A couple of days later a photographer came and stood across the street to take my photo for the article. He used a telephoto lens. We talked across the street. The article was in the business section on April 3. Another spark of fun. Other fun I get is watching comedies on Net Flix or reading all my Stuart MacLean books. It’s good to laugh at least once a day.

With time available now, and no running around to appointments or coffee visits or travel, I guess I should start another book. I wake up every morning and wonder if that’s the day I will start. And then life within the house takes over, and there’s laundry, or cleaning, or writing letters, or cooking or reading. My hope is to write a book based on my childhood correspondence with my penpal in Holland (since 1959). He kept all my letters from that time, so I don’t have to remember everything that happened to me; it’s probably all in the letters. Being as old as I am, I am not sure my long-ago memories are as accurate as they would’ve been 40 years ago. For instance, I remember my grandmother’s gate leg table and how long it was when it was expanded. Or so I thought! I now have that gate leg table and when it’s expanded, it really only holds six people around it. It seemed to me, when I was a child, that there were at least 15 people around that table in my grandmother’s dining room. How would a story like that be categorized? Fiction or non-fiction?

If you are reading this, perhaps you found the link on the YouTube video. If so, feel free to start a conversation with me, here or on Facebook. Being retired for 18 years, I sometimes miss the interaction with students.

Well, it’s a lovely sunny day and I won’t be starting my next book today. All of a sudden “stuff” has arisen. A new book was just delivered from an independent book store in Calgary and of course, I will have to start reading it right away.

Thank you for visiting this site; stay healthy; stay safe. Keep reading, it will take you on countless journeys to the past, the future, different countries, inside someone’s head. Reading is an escape and a learning; may you have many.

Good-bye Ze’ev; I will miss you very much

I lost a friend on December 3. Ze’ev Bar passed away, after a fall, in Amsterdam. He has been a huge part of my life since we first met in 2008. I remember hearing his voice for the first time when I called him on the phone from Calgary. His name was given to me as someone with stories to tell about Pas Op, the Hidden Village near Vierhouten in the Veluwe Forest in The Netherlands.

After I asked him if I could interview him over the phone, he said, “We cannot do this over the phone; you must come to Amsterdam!”

And I went, that early fall of 2008, where we spent four days at his apartment, talking, laughing, crying, as he told me his stories for a book I wanted to write for my former students’ children and children in Canada – a story about how the Holocaust and WWII affected children.

For the next 8 1/2 years we emailed and visited whenever I was in Amsterdam. We had lunch together; we celebrated his birthday in 2017. In 2014, emailing questions and answers about his experiences during WWII was too painful for him, so we stopped. Our emails and letters then became communication between friends – of family, activities, genealogy, trips.

We were both excited when the book was finally accepted by a publisher in 2017. I sent Ze’ev his copy; he said parts of it made him weep. Most likely the ending, where the Canadians liberated Zwolle – where I always cry no matter how often I read it.

This loss leaves a large hole in my heart. We knew each other for 11 years; we shared our lives’ stories; we talked about erudite topics, we shared sadness. Ze’ev loved his family, and was so very proud of his granddaughters, always telling me about their accomplishments. May his memory be a blessing to them.

When I remember Ze’ev, I will feel blessed.

Crete now has a copy of When We Were Shadows

After two signings at Indigo/Chapters in Chinook mall (sold out books) and Crowfoot mall (sold 2/3 of the books), it was time for a holiday. I took my daughter to Crete for her 50th birthday. It was all about what she wanted to do; explore Bronze Age and Minoan ruins and see Knossos (she went on her own on a bus tour). The day Jennifer went to Knossos, I went to the Old City of Chania to the Etz Hayyim Synagogue and donated a copy of When We Were Shadows to their English library. The young woman who was guide that day had some people from a Holland America cruise ship in her group so I listened to the history. There are only 12 members of the synagogue in Chania now. Jewish families who didn’t escape Chania were captured and put on a boat to Athens and then concentration camps. However, an allied sub torpedoed the boat and the prisoners perished. Sad history for the Jews of Chania after so many years of being a huge part of the population.

As I sat in the vestibule in the cool respite from the +30 heat outside, I felt a yearning to attend the coming Friday night service, but we were leaving for home on the Saturday so felt it would be too rushed. Next time I go, I will visit the Friday night services.

This photo shows the presentation to one of the other guides from the synagogue. Note the huge lemon on the tree and the cat asleep in the tree base.

When I returned a second time to the synagogue with Jennifer, the resident cat seemed to remember me. The artwork on the walls is the artwork of George Sfougaras. It can also be seen along with narratives and poetry in his book Tales from an Old Fort Town, A Personal response to the Jewish History of Crete. I bought a copy. The colours chosen for the cover are red, black and white, as are the colours of the cover of When We Were Shadows.

Some stray photos not posted before

 

Note received during the Forest of Reading in Ontario schools.

Young boy reading the book

Mug made for me by my friend Jack.

School visit at Arbour Lake School, invited by the teacher of a friend’s grandson. the students asked a lot of insightful questions and it was a good visit.

Donation of book to San Francisco Holocaust Museum

With my cousins at the Winnipeg launch at McNally Robinson’s bookstore.

Telling about the writing process with the Calgary Association of Lifelong  Learners

Gave a book to Mayor Nenshi for his lovely blurb after reading it.

Donating a book to Buchanan Elementary where I used to teach.

Donating a book to the Holocaust Museum library in Toronto

All the distinguished authors from Festival of Trees in Toronto. Every Falling Star was the winner. I have to read it!

The stage at the ceremony for Forest of Reading. Authors in back and presenters from Stouffville school in front.

Photos from Indigo signings and other stuff that’s been happening.

Signing books under the watchful eye of Margaret Atwood at Bay and Bloor Indigo in Toronto May 16

Poster of all nominated books for Red Maple non-fiction

Signing at Chinook Indigo in Calgary on May 26

Certificate won at Forest of Reading Festival of Trees

Signing at Eaton Centre Toronto May 15

May was a wondrous month

We spent 8 days in Toronto. The main reason was for The Forest of Reading’s Festival of Trees that was on May 14, a culmination of 7 months of anticipation after being nominated for the Red Maple non-fiction award.

I was also invited to go to Oshawa for their Forest of Reading “satellite” festival on May 13. Off I trudged, in the rain, from our hotel, which was right across the street from Union Station. So I didn’t get too wet. HOWEVER, my left foot was getting wetter and wetter. Turned out that my shoe’s sole split halfway across my foot and the water was getting inside.

None of that mattered once we got into the auditorium and were met by screaming and clapping kids. We were told that we were the students’ rock stars. We started out by autographing books and autograph sheets. There were long line ups at all our tables. Many of the students at my table were in the younger category and probably never read my book, but they wanted to collect as many autographs as they could. They were so sweet. And I was gobsmacked at so many kids getting excited about reading. It’s a writer’s and teacher’s dream!

I got to meet the authors and organizers, and was able to put some names to faces. Not being in schools anymore, I don’t know about kids’ books as much. Kevin Sylvester was fun to see in his super hero costume when he did his little blurb. We had to tell the students about our favourite childhood book, or teacher or an embarrassing incident from elementary school. Since another author took my book (Little Women) and my character (Jo), I talked about my embarrassing moment when I stuck my tongue on the frozen pole of the swing at recess, and how the teacher made me stay there with my tongue on the post until everyone went in. Then the principal came out with her coffee and poured it over my tongue. Didn’t help; still ripped off some skin and I couldn’t talk, much to the teachers’ delight!

When I got back to Toronto I went shoe shopping. Found some great Birkenstock Mary Janes that worked very well walking all over Toronto in the upcoming days. They are going to be good shoes for the trip to and on Crete this July.

Tuesday May 14 was one of the more memorable days of my life. The rain stopped but it was cold, so we all wore layers. Luckily I had leotards in my luggage! The morning began with autographs. I got some feedback from students who had read the book and were affected by it to the point that they were almost in tears. After hearing feedback like this I was almost in tears, but I knew I’d done my job with the book.

After that I had a workshop on “voice” which was the most difficult part for me when writing the book. It was only 30 minutes and I wanted them to do some activities as well. There were about 8 students and 2 adults. Two of the older students in the group have great writing skills and communication abilities already. Maybe one day they will be in the same tent giving a workshop!

After lunch was the Red Maple non-fiction ceremony. There were about six of the authors on stage. Students from a school in Stouffville introduced each author. We had to say a 60 – 90 second piece about our nomination. I chose to talk about how readers are dreamers, after a statement I read online a few weeks earlier. I had asked my cousin’s daughter on Sunday, when we were in Waterloo, if what I wanted to say would be meaningful to students her age. I don’t remember now what exactly I said, but it was about how books can make you dream and take you places etc. Whatever I said at the end hit a point with the MC and he wrote it down for future use.

Then two girls went to the mic and opened envelopes (reminiscent of The Oscars), and announced the finalists. I had no idea that there were finalists. Imagine my shock when the novel’s title was announced as a finalist. I could not believe it. I felt a bit like Sally Field in her Oscar acceptance speech (note my emphasis on movies!) when she said “You like me, you really like me!” That is how I felt when I heard the book announced – they like it, they really like it.

The book that won was the one I thought would win. It’s a story about a boy escaping North Korea; pretty powerful stuff! My book and former Governor-General David Johnstone’s book were chosen as Honour Books. What a thrill to come in second in a province where the book was unknown until the Forest of Reading nominated it. Just floated through everything else that day. At the reception I met a reviewer who was surprised that this was my first book “at my age”.

After the reception I floated to Movenpick to meet old friends from university days.

On the Wednesday and Thursday there were signings at Indigo at Eaton Centre and Bay and Bloor stores, a donation to the Holocaust Museum (which already has a book in its library) and I finally met my publisher and her marketing team, as well as my editor, at their offices.We had lemon squares. Thank you Caitlyn.

That left the last two days to wander and relax. It was a great 8 days filled with so many people. I met my “guide” through the whole process – Jess Longthorne, and met @bookwormmom who escorted me everywhere on the Tuesday. Thanks Kim!

Since getting home there has been a signing at Chinook Indigo on Sunday, another one coming up this Sunday, June 2 and one is booked for Cross Iron Mills on August 11. Been sorting through the photos taken, some of which are here, and letting people know the good news.

Just before I left I got notice that the book has been shortlisted for the 2020 Rocky Mountain Book Award which will be announced next spring. 2018 was a long and busy year and 2019 promises to be much of the same.

The next six weeks will involve cleaning my house, trying to do more downsizing, and getting ready for the two weeks in Crete in July. People ask me if I am going to write another book and I say that I need to find something that makes me as passionate as this book did. Maybe I will find that on Crete.

Photos in reverse order:Saying about how readers are dreamers.

Being introduced, and below, waiting on stage. Workshop on voice in tent.In the authors’ lounge in the many layers for the weather.

With Kim who guided me around all day.

At the autograph session, signing books, autograph sheets and handing out bookmarks.

Waiting for May

Well, it’s been a busy few months. In February I went to Vancouver for the Jewish Book Festival where I was a featured author. They sold all the books they ordered the morning of the talks! Snow in Vancouver prevented many from attending the whole week, but the hearty ones made it in. While in Vancouver I also visited 2 schools, donated a copy of When We Were Shadows to the Holocaust museum library, and had a successful signing at Granville Indigo.

When I got home I continued to donate books to former schools. Compiled a package to send to school boards in the province so they would consider putting When We Were Shadows in their libraries. Last week I spoke to a group of Lifelong Learners’ writing group. Pleased that the interest goes into that age group.

Coming up is the week in Toronto for the Forest of Reading celebration of Red Maple non-fiction award nominees. The week includes a trip to Oshawa where we will meet 1200 students who can’t make it into TO for the big celebration. On the Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 5 – 7 I will be signing books at the Eaton Centre Chapters and Bay and Bloor St Chapters respectively. There is also a plan to donate a book to the Holocaust Museum in Toronto. My publisher is working on school visits, but nothing yet.

Back in Calgary there are signings on May 26 at Chinook Chapters and on June 2 at Crowfoot Centre. Then I am taking a break and going to Crete for two weeks in July.

I am beginning to research the possibility of writing another middle-school book about The Holocaust. It feels like I’ve been marketing this novel for over a year and I don’t know when I should stop and let it sell on its own merits. I guess if I start another book, that will take much of my time.

Posting photos from past events:

Donating a copy to Cambrian Heights Elementary; Virtual Visit with a school in Barrie ON as part of Forest of Reading; Calgary Jewish Book Festival; Indigo on Granville book signing in Vancouver; visiting middle-school in New Westminster BC; visiting school in Kitsilano, Vancouver BC; Vancouver Jewish Book Festival; donating copy to Huntington Hills Elementary in Calgary (duplicate photo).