Mid TD Book Tour Update

The Lakewood Lakers!

I am having the time of my life. No exaggeration. I've now been to five schools and delivered six presentations. I've shared Spy-Like Writing Skills and How to Grow a Story from a Seed of an Idea to a Published Book. I've answered hundreds of questions (only a slight exaggeration) from students in Kindergarten to Eighth Grade!

Holy Cross Students and Me!

I can't imagine how this tour could get any better, but today I visit two branches of the Burlington Library and will help a group of young writers prepare for a writing contest. After that I get to join a group of Brownies and Boy Scouts for an Author and Pizza night! (I hope they have pepperoni!)

Preparing for this trip, I felt waves of excitement intermingled with anxiety that would often make me think, "What have I got myself into?" 

Mid-tour my anxiety is low, my excitement is off the charts and I keep thinking, "How lucky am I to have got into this program?" 

Spy-Like Writing Skills at St. Theresa's School

Filled with gratitude and humbled by the response I've received from the students and staff at every school I've visited in Southern Ontario, I continue across the province, feeling blessed and so proud to be Canadian.

New Pal, Principal Van Laecke at Lakewood!

Thank you, TD Bank for supporting this program, Canadian authors, Canadian literature and Canadian children. Thank you to the Canadian Children's Book Centre, for selecting me to take part. Thank you to my mentor, actor, 1st Vice Chair of The Writers' Union of Canada, Award-Winning Author and friend, Anita Daher. Without you, I would not be sitting in the Holiday Inn in Burlington, surround by my books, preparing to finish my first book tour.

More New Pals!

So excited to begin with the grade 3/4's
at Sacred Heart that I forgot to take pics.
So, here are the scraps of paper
I autographed and the school!

TD Canadian Children's Book Week Tour Approaches!

The days are growing ever closer to the start of my tour TD Canadian Children's Book Week through southern Ontario. Beginning on Monday, May 6th, I'll be visiting Brantford, Burlington, Hamilton, Port Dover, Glen Morris, Oakville and Paris!

Presentation materials sorted

My bags are nearly all packed, my presentations polished and now I impatiently wait for Sunday afternoon's flight to Hamilton.

I'll blog when possible, with updates on my journey and reflections of my travels, spreading a love of reading, writing and creativity.

TD Canadian Children's Book Week Road Trip 2019!

Two of my tour stops are at the Burlington Library. 

Very excited to work with these young writers.

Back to the Printer!

This cover still takes my breath away.

SO EXCITED! 

Family of Spies: Paris is back to Friesen Press for a second print run!

Thanks to all who have purchased copies or have borrowed the novel from a library. Finding an audience is every writer's dream.

AND it is now available in the United Kingdom and most of Europe!
We're working hard on U.S. distribution. Inches away from a green light.

Happy Dancing around my house. Need to get my extra hyper out or I'll never get back to my current work in progress. These stories don't write themselves, after all.

To the Library!

View from our Toronto Airbnb.

What a whirlwind trip. 

I arrived at our Airbnb in Toronto at 1:00 a.m. with fellow author, pal and absolute perfect travel companion Colleen Nelson, and was out again by 7:30 a.m. to get to a full day in at the Ontario Library Association Super Conference.

This cover created a lot of buzz,
thanks to Relish New Brand!

I met lovely authors, teachers, publishers and the reps from Publishers Group Canada, the distributors for Yellow Dog titles. Bronte, Margot and Michael graciously hosted us in their booth and for a feverish twenty minutes I signed books and chatted to teachers and librarians about Family of Spies:Paris and the school visits available through the TD Canadian Children's Book Week Tour.

Key Conference Takeaways:

• Middle Grade. Middle Grade. Middle Grade.
• Shorter Middle Grade is needed
• Middle Grade Fantasy remains high in demand
• Manitoba stories are being very well-received
• Great Plains Publications has an extremely good reputation

On a personal note:

• I need to produce more words if I want to grow my writing career.

To get those words onto paper, I plan to take my mobile office to various libraries around the city as I complete the first draft of my next book. I need zero distractions and household chores always scream for my attention, so beginning Monday morning I am off to the Fort Garry Public Library to write for the day. Funny. My love of literature is coming full circle. When I was a child, we spent hours at the Fort Garry Library reading everything we could get our hands on. In fact, years ago I wrote a piece about this for the publisher of Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food and Other Life Lessons, Little Pickle Press. You can read that article here: Featured Library: Fort Garry Public Library

Makes me think of that old John Denver song,

Back home again, I just can't wait to get home again...

Fort Garry Library.
Library Sweet Library.

And finally, my deep gratitude goes to the Manitoba Arts Council and their ongoing support of Manitoba's writing community. Without their grant, my journey to Toronto would not have been possible.

Looking to book an author?
Click here!

Ontario Library Association Super Conference 2019

Look out people, Flatlanders are coming to town  

...erm... 

to the Ontario Library Association Super Conference 2019!

Hmm. I need to work on the slogan. Doesn't roll of the tongue, does it. Maybe a song? A riddle? Or what about a limerick!

Ahem.

Portage Avenue Collides with Yonge Street

by 

Jodi Carmichael

There once were three writers from Winnipeg.

They really liked to pull your leg

But their jokes soon fell flat
Even rhymed cat with kitkat
And got bonked on their heads with a shillelagh. 

Think I'll stick to novels.

Let me get straight to the point. Three Manitoba authors will be signing books at the Ontario Library Association's Super Conference the last week of January to showcase prairie talent and to represent publisher, Great-Plain Publications. Anita Daher, award-winning author, presenter and The Writers Union of Canada Vice-Chair, will be arriving old school, via ViaRail. The second award-winning author to make the trek is a contender in the Forest of Reading once more, Colleen Nelson. She'll be climbing aboard Westjet with me for a quick flight from Winnipeg to Toronto.

I'm signing copies of Family of Spies: Paris
at booth #421 on Friday at 10:30 am!

Next up: Family of Spies: Paris Bookmarks!

Are we ready? Yes we are.

I am in full-on marketing mode:

• Designing business cards
• Printing marketing sheets for my presentations
• Preparing a binder of speaker testimonials 

I'm also mulling over questions like:

*Can I bring back list books for teachers to look at?

*Should I bring some sort of marketing piece - maybe a postcard with a blurb about my middle grade fantasy manuscript, A Time of Peril? Is that tacky or is that being a smart business person?

*And of course, most importantly...

what should I wear? 

I strongly feel a new outfit is in order. 

Nothing like new clothes confidence to set the day off right.

And now that I have my priorities in order it is back to writing

Rise of the Dark Faeries

Spooky, yes?
This middle grade novel follows A Time of Peril
and precedes,
Return of Dragons

Please pop by, say hello and pick up some fabulous novels from Manitoba authors. 

We'll be at the Publishers Group Canada's booth #421!

Family of Spies Launched!

It's official! 

Family of Spies has launched and will land on bookstore shelves over the next few weeks.

My thanks to everyone who came out to McNally Robinson Bookseller's to celebrate. 

What a party!

Jamie and I. Excited. Nervous. Pens ready.

Illustrator, Jamie Gatta and I, were thrilled to see so many students from Beaumont School. And of course I was proud to introduce Kennedy who created the awesome Family of Spies' book trailer, which you can view here: Family of Spies Book Trailer.

McNally's atrium was packed with kids, adults, friends, and family and looking on a sea of smiling faces, is something I will never forget. 

Family of Spies was inspired by family lore that swirls around my grandfather's still-sealed World War 2 records and my cousins from across North America, including Hawaii, flew to Winnipeg for this event. We quickly planned a Winnipeg Crawford family reunion and re-introduced ourselves after decades of separation. Books aren't just about getting lost in a good story, they can bring families together! At least they are, if you are a FAMILY OF SPIES! 

Gorgeous cookies by Prairie Ink.

(See what I did there? Clever, yes?)

A huge thank you to McNally's launch staff who seamlessly guided the afternoon. You make every author, whether they've published one book or twenty-five books, feel like J.K. Rowling.

Family of Spies was completed on the day movers arrived at our home in Hertford, England to pack us for our return to Canada. While in England, I met two writers through The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and we formed a critique group called, The Streamers. (Named after our pub, The Millstream. Of course.) This novel would remain unfinished if it weren't for The Streamers. Alice and Louise graciously agreed to do my book launch introduction via video, and as expected everyone found them as funny, thoughtful, and amazing as I do. As they took us down "memory lane" of how we three met and worked so well together, my heart was full. I am happy to say, The Streamers has gone international, and we meet via Skype every three to four weeks to critique each others work.

Two thirds of The Streamers: Alice and Louise from Hertford, England

Sharing the writing journey of Family of Spies

And then the presentation continued and in what felt like just a few minutes, I was signing books.

Thank you!

Signing, signing, signing. Smiling, smiling, smiling.

E.H. Crawford

 This day was made possible by Yellow Dog, an imprint of Great Plains Publications. 

Thank you for all you do for Canadian writers.

And my thanks to my cousin, Jim Crawford of Newfoundland - our family historian. Thank you for helping me keep all our Crawford Harrys and Henrys straight. 

Finally, I am extremely grateful that I am fortunate enough to write books and find an audience who enjoys the stories I create.

Jodi

xx

Family of Spies Blog Tour Schedule

And so it begins! 

So excited to start the tour for 

Family of Spies.

Won't you join me as I travel the Internet and visit bloggers across the globe?

April 30, 2018 – Chapters Through Life – Review

May 1, 2018 – Chapter by Chapter – Interview

May 2, 2018 – BookHounds YA – Guest Post

May 3, 2018 – BooksChatter – Interview

May 4, 2018 – Stacking My Book Shelves! – Interview

May 7, 2018 – Belle’s Book Blog – Spotlight

May 8, 2018 – Writing Pearls – Review

May 9, 2018 – Mango Bubbles Books – Review

May 10, 2018 – CanLit for LittleCanadians – Review

May 10, 2018 – MG Book Village – Review

May 11, 2018 – laura’s bookish corner – Review

Available Now!

It will be a busy two weeks. 

Hope to see you in the comments section.

Family of Spies Book Launch

It is official!

The McNally Robinson launch date for my third novel 

Family of Spies

is set for April 29th at 2:00 p.m. 

Please join me in McNally's atrium for a fun-filled afternoon. Of course there will be cookies, clues, and prizes! 

This is a family friendly event, with special guests from the Adopt an Author program at Beaumont School.

Family of Spies, is a middle grade novel loosely based on the mystery revolving around my Rhodes Scholar grandfather, Edward Hugh Martin Crawford. He was a pilot with the R.C.A.F. and was awarded an MBE, based on his involvement in World War 2. Eighty years later, the details of his military career remain sealed. Our family lore of code breaking, secret missions, and connections to Bletchley Park, fueled my imagination when writing this story. Back in 2013 when I began research for this novel, I wrote a blog post exploring my grandfather's life. You can read it by clicking here: The Queen's Rum Runner.

When cousins Ford, Ellie and Gavin, discover their great-grandfather was a rogue World War 2 spymaster, they must outrun MI6 and the CIA through the streets of Paris, relying on their wits and Ford’s newfound clairvoyant skills to unlock Great-Granddad’s spy secrets buried in the past. Great-Granddad hid something important to the war effort and these agencies want it back!

And finally, a huge thank you to my editor, Stephanie Berrington of Yellow Dog, an imprint of Great Plains Publications, for working with me to strengthen every passage of this novel.