by Sylvia McNicoll | Mar 31, 2015 | Sylvia McNicoll
Someone said I was returning to square one, teaching writing at night. It’s been about a decade since I passed the creative writing torch at Sheridan College to other authors.(During that time I’ve continued to visit classrooms and libraries and instruct and conduct various workshops.)
But teaching at the Mississauga Living Arts Centre is not the same.  Just look at my classroom. It doubles as a visual arts studio. Imagine having to shut the door so we can hear ourselves over the symphony practising across the way.  (instead of the cleaning lady vacuuming).  A weekly routine was  asking the members of the orchestra to clear their palates of drums from our classroom’s front door. Another routine was to collect my attendance papers by walking past a row of parents and their daughters in tutus, most of them reading, some from traditional books,  others devices, as they waited for class; later returning these same papers, passing through the same hallway this time listening to classical piano while these children danced, parents still reading outside the door.
But it’s never about the setting. It’s not even about the learning that you do when you try to articulate your passion through notes and exercises to your students.
It’s about the students themselves.
On our last night together four dedicated people,of the original six,shared homemade butter tarts, cinnamon buns, and non-alcoholic bubbly. It is such a privilege to be able to get to know these four individuals so closely over eight weeks. (The cut off number to run a course is five not ten as it is for credit courses at colleges.)
We toasted creativity. I am so delighted not to have to mark and grade stories (the way I would have had to do for a college credit course.)It takes away that level of imposing values and passing judgment on writing just meant to be listened too and celebrated.
To Ryan, Glorien, Sarah and Sneya, thank you for sharing your stories with me.
Is it a sunset or a sunrise returning to teaching at night? Interesting that when you look at a photo, you can never really tell the difference. Â Can you?
by Sylvia McNicoll | Mar 23, 2015 | Sylvia McNicoll
“Hey there, would you like to have an autographed book mark from a famous Canadian writer?” Â The punch line is always something about famous and Canadian combined being a bit of an oximoron; also If I were famous, they should probably know me.
Last Sunday I signed at Chapters Fairview, Burlington where a fair number of students from Canadian Martyr School came to visit, thanks to a fabulous teacher, Linda Rivard, who read two of my latest novels out loud to her class. It was a writer’s dream to watch the girls jump up and down and giggle with joy at meeting me and carrying their new books to checkout.
Sunday, I signed at Indigo, Milton, which had painfully few customers that afternoon.  I may have signed all of seven books but I did give out some business cards to the young readers. “If you need to write a book report, and you have any questions, email me.  I can help you get an A.”  On Monday I received an email from Claire, one of my few new young readers saying “I met you at Indigo on Sunday and I bought the book that you wrote, Dying to Go Viral and I loved loved loved it. My favourite part is when Scratch kisses Jade for the first time.  I started reading the book on Sunday (right after I bought it) and finished it today (Monday).  I could NOT put it down, even for a second!
Okay, so maybe the Sunday signing was worth it too.
This past Saturday, March 21, I scored a Globe and Mail review to coincide with my signing. Â This would be my first ever in 25 years of writing. Citing it as one of three YAs worth a read, Lauren Bride says “the tone is fresh and present day appropriate, challenging stereotypes, racism and how families integrate into Canadian Culture.” Thank you Lauren!
Surprisingly this did not draw any of the many customers to my table but it helped seal the deal. Â I would hand out the autographed Best Friends Through Eternity post cards and quote the review shamelessly.
I lost count of how many books I sold–which is a good thing.
Does this make the whole signing thing at the blockbuster bookstore seem easy? Â Because it is not. Â Most often it feels like you should have written anything but whatever theme or story that you tackled. Â I watched kids stream by with cartoony Wimpy Kid wannabe American books if they were younger and Divergence and Insurgence if they were older.
If I could tear them over to my lonely signing table, at some point I would have to always prove my books were “appropriate” for them to their parents.  It felt as though parents wanted a Canadian Heidi for their young readers if they were buying from me while they were okay with buying American movie books where teens slaughtered and tortured each other.  I kind of get that–they want broccoli books from me if they have been talked into buying it but they’re happy buying potato chip novels from the US/Hollywood  because their kids will gobble them up and be seen as cool just carrying the chip stories around.
So signing at a bookstore becomes pitting my friendly banter about reading and writing against Hollywood buzz. Surprisingly sometimes it works. I tell them teachers love Canadian books. Â Some of them do. Â Witness Linda Rivard at Canadian Martyrs. We’ll have to work at our “It’s cool to read Canadian” promotion.
In the meantime, look at all the books Chapters sold (albeit to me). Â There was a buy three YAs get one for free sale!
by Sylvia McNicoll | Feb 21, 2015 | Sylvia McNicoll
Okay, my first problem is admitting I’m a senior. Â After that, I really don’t even know what to ask about my new iPhone 6. Maybe if I were an organized person I might have written down a bunch of questions.
No matter. Â First off Heidi, my personal teen tech mate, showed me how to get to photos without inputting my password (or thumbprint in the case of my phone). Â We quickly snapped this beautiful selfie. Our third try, because Heidi showed me where to look so I didn’t appear quite so goofy.
Then I told her about some of my random problems. Â Correcting spelling errors in my texts for example. Â Who knew that Apple only lets you go to the beginning or end of a word to correct, not the middle. Â That fact explained why I couldn’t get to some of my typos.
(Late breaking news. iPhone and iPad users, turns out you can correct. You touch the screen until a magnifying glass appears and then you can delete and add letters in the middle. I was able to tell Heide, the Android girl about this one)
Heidi showed me that to select and copy text from a phone email  or text, I just had to press the screen for a second and the select/selectall/paste button would come up.
For fun, she showed me an app called App of the Day and I downloaded Sticktext which allowed me to paste (into emails and texts) hilarious animated stick people doing things like sinking a basket ball, walking a dog, or throwing up. Â I immediately texted my teen grandson the puking picture.
Heidi coached me to use both thumbs typing. Â We searched for a thumb typing lesson app but couldn’t find one. Practise should do that all on its own anyway. Â We tried downloading magazine apps and found we did indeed need to pay for a subscription. Actually a relief to me.
Heidi is an Android phone girl but she proved again that once you develop a kind of let’s see-what-that-does attitude to technology, the attitude serves you no matter what the device is. Press buttons, try things, ask other people.
Asking other people helped me a lot in this case. Â Terrific fun. Â It was such a cool shift. Most often I’m on the teaching end, showing teens how to change paragraphs for emphasis or when to use italics or how to build drama and tension in a story. Â Nice to switch places.
And, Heidi has agreed to test out my work in progress: Perspectives–a story in which a senior and teen switch bodies and bond over…technology.
by Sylvia McNicoll | Feb 15, 2015 | Sylvia McNicoll
 Somewhere out there is photo of me stripping at my launch. Another of me having a sari wrapped around to demonstrate research for the Indian engagement scene in Best Friends Through Eternity. To follow, I’m sure, on Facebook. Some thirty people attended, lots of writers but also some of my teen and tween audience, also some fans from the past who are 25 and 31 years old.  Thank you to Gujarati Foods for supplying the pakora, chaat papri, and gulab jamun, all foods from the engagement party in the novel.
 
 Thanks to Ian Elliot of A Different Drummer Books for hosting the event.  I feel very blessed to have him on my side.
Thank you to all for your good wishes and kind words on the book.
May this success continue!
by Sylvia McNicoll | Feb 14, 2015 | Sylvia McNicoll
Thank you Burlington Public Library for tacking up my launch poster on your community bulletin board. Thank you to all my friends and colleagues and City of Burlington and MPs and Tundra for tweeting and retweeting:
 T  
by Sylvia McNicoll | Feb 11, 2015 | Sylvia McNicoll
A brand new book is born and the world keeps spinning. Reviews come in, or not. Â A story makes a 10 best list. Â Or not. Â It’s nominated for a major award… Â Well, you get the picture.
We tweet, blog, post on Facebook, sign, and speak but mostly we just want to write. Â The rest we do so we can have that privilege.
What awaits my newborn creation? Â I’m terrified.
Still, no matter what, we must celebrate the process and the effort and the sheer impossibility of another book joining the shelves of the world. Not only my efforts but those of my Tundra team: several editors, Sue Tate, in lead, a designer, Rachel Cooper, and also a publicist Pamela Osti. Join me for the launch of Best Friends Through Eternity, Sunday 2:00 p.m. at one of Canada’s finest book stores, A Different Drummer Books.
Someone said I was returning to square one, teaching writing at night. It’s been about a decade since I passed the creative writing torch at Sheridan College to other authors.(During that time I’ve continued to visit classrooms and libraries and instruct and conduct various workshops.)
Is it a sunset or a sunrise returning to teaching at night? Interesting that when you look at a photo, you can never really tell the difference. Â Can you?
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