I’m back in Toronto after a whirlwind book promotion in my hometown, Vancouver. Isn’t Vancouver gorgeous?
It was a busy visit. On Thursday, I dropped by the McKellar & Martin office to sign some books and chat about the Saturday launch. It was great to see the office, and I came away with a copy of Go Away, Unicorn, which is a hilarious picture book for non-girly-girls.
Thursday night, my mom had her book club over and they very graciously chatted with me about the book (they don’t usually read YA fiction!). On Friday, my mom hosted another party for friends and family, and we all spent the day catching up, chatting about books, and enjoying some tasty treats.
Saturday was the launch organized by my publisher, McKellar & Martin. The original venue was Coco et Olive on Main Street, but when we arrived at 9:15 am (the event was supposed to start at 9:30), the door was padlocked! As guests started to show up, my publishers got on the phone to find out what had gone wrong. It turned out that the owner had gotten busy at his cafe’s other location across town and wouldn’t be able to make it in time for the launch.
So my ever-resourceful publishers headed up the block in search of alternate venues. The Grind coffee shop was open, and very kindly agreed to let us have the event in their newly renovated back room. We left a sign on the old venue directing people to the new one, and thankfully we didn’t lose anyone in the location switch. Crisis averted!
There was a great turnout, and the illustrator Jenn Brisson and I had fun signing book after book. I wrapped things up with a short reading from the first story in the book: “Snow White and the Seven Dorks.” (It’s my personal favorite, although most people who’ve read the book say they prefer the Little Mermaid story, “Swan Song.”)
Here’s a picture that sums up my Vancouver launches:
Check out the rest of the photos on my Flickr account!
