The Blue Metropolis Festival

Montreal has so many wonderful things from the best bagels I've ever had to smoked meat sandwiches that could clog 1,000 arteries. Of course there are countless other jewels that don't relate to food - and one of them just completed its 12th year. The BLUE METROPOLIS LITERARY FESTIVAL is a wonderful mix of workshops, panels and speakers; toss in the shmoozing and book signing and I'd say it's a festival that can't be beat.

I had the fortunate experience 2 years ago to speak to a group of 250 kids as part of the Blue Met's Children's Festival and this year I was asked to be part of a panel called "Breaking Into the Red Hot Kid-Lit Market". My fellow panel members Jill Murray and Joyce Scharf and I got to speak to a roomful of aspiring writers of all ages and hopefully we didn't bore the pants off of anyone (in either language). We had the pleasure of being guided through the hour by Raquel Rivera, who had her hands full navigating the questions.

It was a wonderful event and I look forward to next year's festival.

CLOSE TO HOME

"BOOKS will take you ANYWHERE!"

Here's the thing: I travel a lot doing POND SCUM/CREATIVITY workshops and most of the time I am far from home (no complaints - I like hotel beds with TV remotes within easy reach!). What this means though - I hardly ever do local schools or libraries. Sure, I've done a hand-few but it's as if I'm a secret here in Montreal that only gets whispered about now and again.

Recently, however I was part of something AMAZING - the Blue Metropolis Literary Festival, which for the first time this year, decided to have a separate Children's Program. It was a wonderful experience - and I was amazed that my workshop was full to the brim with 360 kids!

(that's just HALF of the huge room filled with eager brains!)

TODAY was another special LOCAL visit - thanks to the lively, efficient and oh-so-thoughtful librarian, Debbie Poirier, I was booked into the amazing Saint John Fisher School just outside Montreal (easy drive = no airplane time!)

Reason ONE why this was nice: (see picture)

(nothing nicer to this author than welcoming treats! Thanks, Deb!)

Reason TWO: Another life-lesson in my ongoing "Go with the flow" experiences.

You see, I've got my presentation down pretty good - and it's filled with humor and interactivity and cartoons and...Me. But sometimes there's a glitch... no projector, or the mic I ordered doesn't work, or the kids think I'm somebody else whose written a book about Alien-Basketball players or something.

My motto: No Worries! I pride myself on staying Zen-like and making anything work....

So today - when we were presented with a small glitch - (no easel for the drawing board I use to do my cartooning)...We went quickly with Plan B: HUMAN EASELS! (if you look closely at the picture you can see I have a kid-volunteer holding the white board while I draw).

It was actually an additional funny thing that added laughs and extra kid-involvement to the morning - and I thank each and every one of you kids who helped me out! (I'll be happy to be an easel for you anytime!)

So winding down I guess it comes down to this: I love to travel...but there's no place like home....and a great librarian who serves snacks!