My friend Beena recently sent me a photo of herself with my novel Lost on the Prairie which has made its way to Delhi, India. When we visited Delhi many years ago Beena and her family entertained us for a meal in their home.
Dave and I taught with Beena’s sister at our school in Hong Kong and Beena has visited us here in Winnipeg. I was delighted to know she had a copy of my novel.
Every month or so I like to post an update on things that are happening with my novel Lost on the Prairie. My publisher Heritage House is as diligent as ever in promoting my book and recently featured it as part of a summer reading campaign.
When I first retired from teaching and decided I wanted to try and write a children’s book and get it published I took a correspondence course in writing for children from The Institute of Children’s Literature based in West Redding Connecticut. The course provided an excellent start to learning about writing for children.
My personal writing coach was Pegi Deitz Shea and she was wonderful. She gave me such encouraging and helpful feedback on each of the submitted assignments but more importantly she gave me confidence. Recently the Institute of Children’s Literature contacted me asking if they could feature me on their successful graduate’s page and I agreed. You can read my interview with them here.
I was delighted that the popular children’s book blog Bit About Books featured Lost on the Prairie as part of their Summer Trails Reading Challenge.
I have to admit I LOVE going into the Millennium Library near my home and seeing my novel on the shelf just as you walk into the children’s section where it is featured as a Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award nominee with so many other great books.
Teacher Librarian Ella Munro reported on social media that Lost on the Prairie was the fourth of the ten nominated books for the MYRCA award she had read before singing the praises of its charming hero. You can read more comments about Lost on the Prairie here.
Recently my friend Pearl had Dave and me over for brunch which included a delicious quiche made by her husband Ken. She asked me to sign five copies of my book which she was giving to families she knew. Thanks, Pearl!
I always think that one month soon there won’t be anything to write about my novel but more than a year after it was first published things keep happening that I want to write about and remember and that was something I didn’t expect.
Other posts……….
What Next? 