As many of you are, I am horrified at the devastation Hurricane Harvey brought upon the people of Houston, Texas. But natural disasters seem to bring out the best in people. One of these people is Kathryn Butler Mills, a teacher who created The Hurricane Harvey Book Club on Facebook after seeing photos of kids in bathrooms, under staircases and in pantries while tornado warnings were going off. The book club has gone viral with children, teachers, librarians and authors from around the world Continue reading
Category Archives: Authors and Books
Book Review: The Water Rat of Wanchai by Ian Hamilton
The first time I heard of Ian Hamilton and the Ava Lee series was a few years ago at the Blue Metropolis Festival here in Montreal. I was scouring the schedule deciding who to see when I spotted his name and the description of Ava Lee, the main character, a Chinese-Canadian forensic accountant. What? There was a crime series featuring a Chinese-Canadian woman? I had to go hear what Hamilton had to say.
I finally got around to reading the first book a few weeks ago when my friend and blogger, Tranquil Dreams, lent it to me. Ava Lee is a forensic accountant and has a partner in Hong Kong simply Continue reading
Good Pirates and Bad Pirates
I was parked outside the Arrivals section at Trudeau Airport this morning looking up and down the waiting area for someone. I have been picking up strangers at the airport once a year for the past few years. This isn’t as bad as it sounds. The occasion is TD Canadian Children’s Book Week when I volunteer to pick up visiting authors and drive them to their hotel or to a school or bookstore for a reading. This time, I was Continue reading
Doctor by Day, Mystery Writer at Night – Meet Melissa Yi
May is Asian Heritage Month!
I thought I’d kick it off by introducing an author I met last summer in Ottawa at a book festival called Prose in the Park (read the post here.) Melissa Yuan-Innes, a.k.a. Melissa Yi, is an emergency doctor and the author of a doctor-detective series that is set right here in Montreal. I purchased the first book Code Blues and enjoyed it so much I bought the second, Notorious D.O.C. I’m officially hooked. It’s no surprise to me Continue reading
Books to Read in 2017
I’m not good at keeping New Year’s resolutions. I’m one of those who forgets/gives up a couple of weeks into the New Year or I’ll procrastinate and start the resolution when tulips are blooming, maybe. (What’s the rush? There’s 365 days in the year.) But this year will be different. I will not procrastinate as this resolution will be easy to keep: I resolve to read more. Continue reading
Being an Author is Just Another Day in the Park
One of the things I enjoy about being an author is that I get to take part in some fun events. Saturday, I was at Prose in the Park, an annual outdoor literary festival which was held at Parkdale Park in Ottawa. It was an opportunity to meet local authors, to listen to them talk about their books, their views on writing and the publishing industry, and of course, to buy new books. Continue reading
The Frozen Book Tag
My friend, Kim (blogger Tranquil Dreams) tagged me for this book list. You can read her answers here. I like the movie Frozen not only because it’s a good story (and I like the song too), but also because the ending is not the typical happily-ever-after that most Disney movies have.
Last year, when I went to Comicon, I saw Olaf and just had to take a picture with him. He’s so huggable!
Anyway, the questions are fun, but weren’t so easy for me to answer. I love too many books to chose just a few, but here we go! Continue reading
Q&A with Suana Verelst, Illustrator of Razia’s Ray of Hope
Montreal has a terrific writing community and there is no doubt that its members have helped me grow as a writer. I met Suana Verelst, an award winning illustrator, several years ago at a get-together for writers and illustrators of children’s and young adult books. (She also makes great home-made soup which I tasted at our last Christmas pot luck.) Her latest, Razia’s Ray of Hope, is an award winning book based on the true story of a girl in Afghanistan who desperately wants an education Continue reading
Talking About Books from Knowlton to Westmount
It was a beautiful day to be in a bookstore yesterday. Sunny and blue skies outside and sunny smiles inside. Here are a few of my photos from the first Canadian edition of Authors for Indies Day. Continue reading
Writers Writing and Reading Really, Really Fast
This is me doing my two minute reading.
Thursday evening, I was invited to participate in a really fun event with the Quebec Writers’ Federation. Twenty-five writers were challenged to do a reading lasting no more than two minutes. Then each writer was to contribute a sentence or two to a short story which would be read out loud at the end of the evening. Welcome to “Rapid-Fire Readings, Ricochet Writing: 25 Montreal Writers Write Before Your Very Eyes”. Continue reading
Day's Lee 