Author Archives: Deborah Hodge

Summer Hiatus

It’s a year since I started blogging, and it’s been an interesting one. I’ve learned a lot about the online world. I have yet to start a twitter presence, and am contemplating whether or not I’d be brave enough to post tiny missives from wherever I am.

Yesterday marked the end of my talks for this school year. A big thank you to Jacqueline Gaudet at Ecole South Park and to Patricia Bartha at Sir William Osler Elementary for inviting me to speak at their respective schools this week. It was wonderful to meet you and your charming students.
And, now, with my speaking schedule wrapped up, I must turn my strict attention to the first draft of a book that has a July 31 deadline. Over the next 7 weeks, I will be hard at work. No swimming, no sunning, no lazy, hazy days of summer. I’ll be at my computer. 
On that note, I will also be taking a blogging hiatus. I realize that I’ll likely need to direct all my writing energy to my book.
Thank you to everyone who has been kind enough to read my blog over the past year. It’s been a real treat to get your comments. 
Have a wonderful summer! Cheers!

Michelle Obama and Me…

I was out watering my garden this morning and admiring the leafy green vegies that are poking up from the soil, and thinking about ways in which Michelle Obama and I are similar. In case you’re interested, here are my conclusions:

– We both dug new gardens this spring, and are clearly interested in sustainable, local food sources. (I didn’t have quite as many photographers documenting my ground-breaking, however.)
– She lives in the White House and I have a bit of white trim on my house.
– We both have 2 daughters (though mine are a bit older and I also have a son).
– We think that feeding our kids delicious home-grown food is a worthy endeavour. (Who can argue with that?)
– We both have husbands who aren’t shy speaking in front of a crowd. (My husband’s crowds might be a touch smaller and we’re still waiting for his inauguration.)
I think the similarities end there, but I will continue to muse about the First Lady as I watch my garden grow over the summer, and be impressed by her example. 
I wonder if she’ll be whipping up a spinach salad with greens from her garden tonight?
Bon appetit, Michelle!

Chocolate Lily Winners

Congratulations! 

Last night’s winners of the Chocolate Lily Awards are:

In the novel category: 

Winner: Joan Betty Stuchner for Honey Cake 
Honour Book: Norma Charles for Boxcar Kid
In the picture book category:
Winner: Chris Tougas for Mechanimals
Honour Book: Kari Lynn Winters for Jeffrey and Sloth.
And congratulations to all the nominees! What a grand showing of talent. It was so interesting to hear the speeches of the nominated authors and find out the stories behind the stories.
The room was full of writers, illustrators, and enthusiastic children and their parents. Thank you to the Chocolate Lily organizers and to Vancouver Kidsbooks for an excellent event!
P.S. I didn’t win, but I got a delicious chocolate treat and a beautiful certificate for being nominated. I was happy. 🙂

Chocolate Lily Awards


Tomorrow is the annual Chocolate Lily Awards ceremony being held at Vancouver Kidsbooks at 7:00 pm. There is a wonderful line-up of local B.C. authors who have been nominated for this children’s choice award. (Check out the Chocolate Lily website here to see the list.)

I wondered where the award name came from and found this photo of the Chocolate Lily flower. Beautiful!

I will be there tomorrow, having been kindly nominated for my picture book, Lily and the Mixed-up Letters, published by Tundra Books. (Lily and Lily: coincidence? I think not. 🙂
Hope to see you there! 
Cheers.

Writing Time…

The garden is planted.

The research is done.
The contract is on its way.
It’s time to write the book. 
No excuses accepted.
I’m self-employed. 
My boss is very tough. 🙂

Blogging Slowdown…

I’m finding that blogging takes place in an inverse proportion to how much other work I’m doing. I apologize for being out of the loop for an entire week. You may remember the “To Do List” I wrote about a few months ago. Well, that list is pretty long these days. Added to that list, as of today, is a deadline for a first manuscript, due by the end of July. This may be the fastest book I’ve ever written. (But I like a challenge!)

One of my excuses for the blogging slowdown? 
Today, I visited the amazing UBC Research Farm to take part in a school tour learning about sustainable farming. I discovered a lot — including what kids find most interesting: worms in the compost, bees in the hives, and feeding the free range chickens. It was a sunny, beautiful day, and great to contemplate the balance of nature on the farm. 
Back soon (I hope). Cheers for now.

Nonfiction is Cool!

One of the blogs I regularly read and enjoy belongs to talented nonfiction author, Tanya Kyi. Her recent post on nonfiction says a lot of what I believe to be true about this genre. Read her post here. 

As for me, my lastest book proposal was also accepted (just heard the excellent news today). The past few months of research and writing has clearly paid off. Now the hard part begins… writing a book that matches the glowing description of the proposal. 🙂
Wish me luck!

Clinton Elementary School

A big thank you to Pam Hossack, the amazing librarian at Clinton Elementary School in Burnaby, for two lovely days at her school. Thank you also to the students and staff for making me feel so welcome!

It’s been exciting to speak at so many Burnaby schools this spring, partly because I grew up in Burnaby, and learned how to read and write there. I’m able to talk to the students about which schools I attended as a girl, and how my family spent many happy hours checking out books from the Edmonds Public Library. 
Author visits allow kids to see that becoming a writer of books is possible. It also gives us (authors) a chance to say that being an avid reader as a child often leads to a career in writing. The same is true for illustrators who often spent their childhoods sketching and drawing. 
When I was a child, I really had no idea that *regular* folks could become authors or illustrators. I think it’s wonderful that kids today have a chance to hear that they if they follow their hearts, work hard, and hone their skills, they too may be able to have their dream career.
Cheers!

Nonfiction Dinner Recap

It was great to catch up with other children’s nonfiction writers at dinner on Friday and discuss the state of the nation, so to speak.

What did I learn?
– That nonfiction writers are very smart! Wow! What an amazingly literate and articulate group of people to sit around the table with.
– That the internet has dramatically changed the publishing market. What we write these days has to appeal to the trade market, and be clever or have a twist. The “straight-ahead” style isn’t selling because everyone thinks (possibly mistakenly) that they can get all of their information simply by checking the internet.
– That the market is increasingly tough, but there will always be a need for books, especially well-written and well-researched ones.
– All of us are regularly asked, “When are you going to write fiction?” Ouch! We adore nonfiction; that’s why we write it. 
– We may be closer to journalists than to fiction writers.
– Many of us have degrees in subjects other than English. There were people with science degrees, history degrees, education degrees, business degrees and even a psychology degree (me!).
– Many of us came to writing as a second career.
– All of us have a sense of humour!
– We work very hard.
– We are dedicated to getting great information into the hands of kids.
– We love what we do! 
To be continued… (following our next meeting).
Cheers!

Nonfiction Writer’s Dinner

Tonight marks the first time local nonfiction authors will get together for a dinner and a chat about the joys and challenges of writing nonfiction for kids. Surprisingly, there are at least 8 of us attending the event, and a few more who are unable to make it. Who knew there were so many talented local folks working on nonfiction for kids? 

We are supposed to bring our best and worst stories of working in this genre. My best is probably feeling privileged to work in a field that allows me to learn new things every day, and share them with enthusiastic kids. My worst (hard to think of anything!) might be that the publishing market is really tough these days. Yet, that in itself provides an interesting challenge. Work harder, work smarter. That’s my new mantra! 
Cheers!