Out and About with Sandy

So much for our ambitious blogging resolutions, but we hope to do better as life slows to a more manageable pace for the summer. At least, it slows for me. Yvonne’s life gets even busier during the summer, as the film business picks up here in Hollywood North. In the meantime, some highlights from the past month…

IRA Conference

Yvonne and I had a chance to meet librarians and teachers at the annual conference of the International Reading Association in May. It took place in Toronto this year, which meant we had an easy commute. After signing copies of The Black Sheep, we had dinner with the fabulous Hyperion crew, including Scottie Bowditch, Angus Killick and RasShahn Johnson-Baker.

Yvonne apparently enjoyed some highbrow discussions with the Hyperion authors at her end of the table. Meanwhile, I was sparring with my neighbour, Jaime Adoff (Jimi and Me), who is hilarious, if sorely misguided about all things Canadian. Sure, he caught me in a blatant “eh?” but that doesn’t mean every Canadian stereotype is true. His notions about moose are too absurd to mention (not that I’ve seen many on the streets of Toronto).

Book Expo Canada

Never have we signed so many books so fast! We really enjoyed meeting the booksellers, librarians and teachers who encourage people to read our books. Thanks to the staff at Fenn, particularly Rosalyn Steele, for making it a great event.

Reviews

Reviews of The Black Sheep have been rolling in.
Publishers Weekly called it a “cheery fish-out-of-water romance.”
Children’s Literature said it’s “a great send-up of reality TV.”
Portrait Magazine gave us a great review at http://www.kiwiolsen.net/portrait/reviews/index.html. While you’re there, check out the reviews of our “Diva” series.
One of our favorites can be found at http://atruereality.blogspot.com/ The reviewer says The Black Sheep reminds her of Twilight. I recently read (and loved!) Twilight and while I confess I don’t see much in common between the two books, I’m thrilled someone else does!

Contest in the Works

We recently finished the revisions for our next book, which leaves us with more time to think about giveaways! We’ve had some cute t-shirts and book bags made with The Black Sheep logo. Contest details will follow next week.

**Update: the contest is now posted. Click here to enter!