I Love to Read (and write) - General Byng School!

A little something for the classrooms.

How to Become a Writer
(In 12 to 14 easy steps...)

I am supremely excited to be presenting to two groups of students at General Byng School here in Winnipeg.

Every year, I visit loads of schools and enjoy meeting students and teachers in each and every classroom, but tomorrow I am at my youngest daughter's school. She will act as my "Ambassador" and ferry me through the school.

She is handling it all very well. 

She has yet to die from extreme parent embarrassment and as long as we don't bump into any of her friends, she will survive the day. 

The Business of Writing

See? Creating worlds is very cool.
Writing grant apps? Not so much.

Being a writer isn't only about creating imaginary worlds and characters to explore them.

It also includes tasks that range from writing grant applications to writing bios both lengthy and short and sweet. It also means perfecting blurbs, tweets, and elevator pitches to catch and hook the attention of readers, editors, and publishers.

All of these efforts take creative thought into a different direction and help to promote both a writer and their work. It is the business side of our industry and is as important to a writer's career as is writing the best book possible.

Today, I work on author bios for Sourcebooks, who purchased Little Pickle Press, the publisher of Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food. Author Bios are basically a humble or even not so humble brag about yourself and can be quite challenging. The goal, in my mind, is to encapsulate who you are, your writing style, and to pique interest in your work. No worries. I have a fresh pot of coffee brewing and a chocolate reward waiting.

This may need some work...

You can purchase Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food by clicking here.

SAGE - Here I Come!

My check list has begun for the MTS SAGE 2014: Special Area Groups of Educators Conference on October 24th. 

Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food books to sell. Check.
Spaghetti book marks and Lesson Plans: Check.
Stuffed Charlie Dog: Check.



Forever Julia book marks: Half a check. (In process.)

Stoked to be manning The Manitoba Writers' Guild table with friend and fellow author, Susan Rocan.

Wish us luck as we promote the Guild's resources, fellow Manitoba writers, and ourselves, too!

Good Book Reviews Never Get Old

If only I was like dear Wolfgang and could ignore book reviews, but I will never be Mozart and so for me reviews never get old. 

Every time one comes to my attention, I get the same thrill of excitement, the same zing of joy that shoots from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. 

I found this one on Amazon after receiving a wonderful message from an occupational therapist friend who works in The Pembina Trails School Division. Yesterday she was at a meeting with two resource specialists who had a bunch of books on their reading list for teachers. Both of them put Spaghetti at the top of the list!

I shall coast on the fumes of all this good news for the rest of the week.

You can order your copy here.

Zero Purple Chickens

Recently, I posted a link to my lesson plans and was surprised to see a purple chicken attached to my link. 

Why does the vast and powerful internet do weird things like this? 

Since the Great Googler has not given me any deep insight into this phenomenon I decided to share it with you here. 

Any thoughts?

Jodi Carmichael shared a link.

7 minutes ago · Edited

For my teaching pals. This is where you can download Spaghetti lesson plans . Not sure why a purple chicken displays in this link. There are exactly zero purple chickens in my book. There is one green gecko and one brown dog, but I passed on poultry. I mean, who can compete with Mo Willems' Pigeon? He's got birds covered.

Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food Lesson Plans - Little Pickle Press

www.littlepicklepress.com

Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food Lesson Plans, based of the award-winning chapter book written by Jodi Carmichael and illustrated by Sarah Ackerley, will provide children with an...

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Shout out to Chapters St. Vital!

Another successful book signing at Chapters St. Vital, done and complete!

I met all sorts of folks. Avid readers, burgeoning writers from ages 9 to 29, parents looking for books for reluctant readers, and of course grandparents. Again, I was astounded by the numbers of grandparents buying books for their grandchildren.

Most awesome.

Pat, me (chinless), & Christina - "An Anitas Writing Group Selfie"

Throughout the afternoon I was joined by my writing friends, my
parents, and my daughters who came and went, keeping me company and enticing shoppers to buy Spaghetti! My dad in particular had a delightful time speaking to customers and to Joseph, who looked after us throughout the book signing, making us feel like part of the Chapters team.

They say employees are a reflection of the general health and attitude of a business, and if that is so, Chapters must be doing everything right. Every staff member I've dealt with has been enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and a joy to work with.

Three Cheers for Chapters!

Spotlight on Autism Spectrum Disorder

Chapters St. Vital, Winnipeg

This Saturday, April 5^th, Chapters St. Vital is hosting a book signing of Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food and Other Life Lessons to help shine a light on Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Come join me from 12:30 – 4:30 as I sign books, chat about ASD, and the need for acceptance for all, regardless of our differences.

I''ll look a lot like this! 

I’ll be set up at the entrance to the mall. 

You won’t be able to miss me. 

(Just look for the blue & green helium balloons.)

Al Simmons Touched my Book!

"Don't make me sing along...altogether now!"

In the world of children's entertainers, there are few that come close to the comedic antics of Winnipeg's own, Al Simmons.

There's Rafi, Fred Penner, and Jake Chenier, to name a few.
.

Em with Al Simmons

They are all stupendous and kids go crazy for their shows.

For our family, Al Simmons holds a special place in our hearts. We've taken the girls to his shows at The Children's Festival at the Forks, an icy performance at Festival Du Voyageur, and a mega show at the Centennial Concert Hall where he played with The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

But most recently, our most favourite Al Simmons show occurred right in our own back yard. 

Well, almost.

Reading in Al's presence!

Through the organizing and marketing talents of a great Wildwood Park neighbour Estee Taylor, (who is an amazing puppeteer, artist, and children's entertainer herself), we featured the wild shenanigans of Mr. Simmons just a few weeks ago at our Winter Carnival.

Both kids and adults sang with Al about hats, fishies, and his rock collection. I joined in, my monotone drowned by Al's rich baritone.


Hmm, I'm not sure if he is a baritone, tenor, or base. For sure he's not a soprano. I actually have no clue what I'm talking about.

As a singer, I make a good writer. 
Capice?

For me, the biggest thrill occurred  when he held my book high above his head and encouraged the audience, filled with my friends and neighbours; my community, to go out and buy Spaghetti!

He said it was a wonderful book! 

His words gave me goosebumps, peeps.

(This copy shall never be sold.)

Spaghetti is SUPERB! Book Review by The Reading Tub

Reading Tub Homepage

As an author, you hope your book reaches a wide audience, appealing to a diverse group of readers who like your book enough to recommend it to friends. Word of mouth advertising is the most cost effective and successful marketing tool we have.

When a reader is so moved by your novel (either they loved it or despised it), they often post a book review. This can be a joyous moment for a writer, or one that results in head-to-toe chills.

Recently, I received a totally unexpected and thoroughly delightful review from Terry Doherty, of The Reading Tub. 

Order Spaghetti from Amazon Canada!

Doherty picked up, Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food, at Book Expo America and this is a snippet of what she had to say:

"In a word: superb! By letting Connor tell the story, readers can walk in his shoes and see the world as he does. The author captures a young boy's voice perfectly. Every child knows what interrupting is - and how hard it is to be patient. All of us know what its like to want something NOW and then just grab for it. The story has a happy ending, as it should."

Of course I Happy Danced around the house after reading this 

to the tune of Katy Perry's, ROAR. 

(It seemed fitting.)

Please follow this link to read her complete review, and to find other books The Reading Tub has reviewed: The Reading Tub Review of Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food.

And if you have yet to check out the FREE Lesson Plans, those can be found here:

Spaghetti Lesson Plans

Spaghetti Goes Global!

Hi there South Korea! 

Annyeonghaseyo! 

Stoked that my publisher has sold the foreign rights to a publisher in Korea. Curious to hear what South Korean kids think of Connor and his adventures.

The most coincidental aspect of this deal, is that Winnipeg has a fast growing Korean population. In fact at Linden Meadows School, where I have one of the best jobs in the entire universe, Korean kids make up a large part of our ESL program.

How cool will it be to have one of our students read Connor, in Korean, to me?

Let me tell you, it will be exceedingly cool. 

So cool I may have my first ever public Happy Dance.

(Just don't expect to see it on Youtube.)

First Chapters' Book Signing a Success!

All set up and ready to sign!

My first Chapters' book signing went off without a hitch!

A huge thank you to Trevor Rushak and Camilla Mozdzen of the St. Vital Centre Chapters store for inviting me and making me feel so very welcome.




I met some incredible people; some who knew all about Aspergers, some with brand new diagnoses in their families, but mostly children or their parents who were chiefly looking for a good book.

My two most favourite moments:

Early in the afternoon a young girl named Riley bought Spaghetti and returned a half hour later to thank me again and give me a hug.

Later parents of a newly diagnosed 19 year old came to my table with a stack of books asking, "Where to begin? How do we help ourselves understand our son and give him the support he needs?"

I directed them to Asperger Manitoba and wrote down the names of my favourite Autism Spectrum Disorder authors: Dr. Tony Attwood, Temple Grandin and Michael John Carley. If you're looking for information, just click on their names and visit their website or Amazon page.

Oh! And I also met some incredible classroom and resource teachers. And so very many stellar grandparents involved in their grandkids' lives. And...the list goes on.

Winnipeg is full of readers, and it was a huge pleasure meeting so many of them last weekend.

The best news of the day though, was being asked to return for Autism Awareness Month!

Looking to purchase a copy of Spaghetti?

Click here:

Chapters'/Indigo/Coles

Book Signing at Chapters St. Vital - WOOHOO!

Be here or be square on Oct 26th from 1-3pm!

Okay, best to keep calm. Not my normal state of being, but I will try.

Terribly excited about my first ever book signing at Chapters St. Vital in the south end of Winnipeg!

I was overjoyed when one of Chapters' Booksellers, Trevor Rushak,  F-Book'd me a few months ago asking if I would come in and do a book signing. My immediate response was to run around my house screaming, which I do a lot. It is cathartic, freeing, and I highly recommend it.

It should always be followed by a Happy Dance. 

One day I'll get brave and post a video of my best Happy Dance. Until then you'll just have to imagine me dancing to Pink's "So What" or The Proclaimers' "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)." Just a few suggestions to get you started on your own Happy Dance moment.

Now where was I?

Oh yes, in response to this thrilling invitation, I typed my most professional reply, "I would absolutely love to come and do a book signing. I'm getting excited just thinking about it." Maybe not Donald Trump master class business worthy, but I'm a children's book author after all.

Here are the deets, my peeps:

When: Saturday, October 26th

Time: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.

Where: Chapters' St. Vital, in the St. Vital Mall, Winnipeg Manitoba 

(click here for a map.)

Click here to link to Chapters Indigo

Did I mention Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food makes the perfect Christmas gift for that young reader in your life?

Exciting News!

Thrilled to receive great news regarding my chapter book.

Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food and Other Life Lessons, won a Silver Moonbeam Award for Best First Book: Chapter Book.

Much happy dancing occurred today. Fairly certain the dog thinks I lost my mind. Perhaps I did. For a while. But it's back and raring to get on a plane tomorrow for Chicago!

Look out Windy City - The Carmichaels are ready to celebrate!

School Visits

As the kids return to school so do I! 

Both to my awesome job at Linden Meadows School and to schools around Manitoba to read from my chapter book, Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food and Other Life Lessons and to discuss the writing process.

I am currently booking into the fall and if you'd like to contact me about visiting your school, please email me at jodi@thecarmichaels.ca.

Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food and Other Life Lessons, is a humorous chapter book about an eight-year-old boy with Asperger's Syndrome. Connor struggles to make his way through a typical school day and in his attempt to be as cool as everyone else, he leaves a hilarious trail of destruction. But, by the end of the day, and despite many miscommunications and misunderstandings, Connor realizes that he is exactly as cool as he is supposed to be.

My presentations are varied and completely flexible. You can learn more about what I offer by clicking on the School Visits Tab of my webpage or simply click HERE.

Made McNally's Bestsellers List for 9 Weeks!

Marvellously Melodious MagicBlox

I can never pass on an awesome alliteration opportunity, even when it results in nearly nauseating results. Sorry, peeps.

This past weekend while relaxing at Stone's Throw Cottage, along the sandy shores of Lake Winnipeg, I set up my very own recording studio in my front porch. Well, sort of.

My marketing guru, Cameron Crane, of Little Pickle Press arranged for me to read the first few chapters of Spaghetti on the fabulous online talk radio show and kids book site called, MagicBlox.


I dialed in and hooked myself up to my cell phone, wearing ear phones that NASA would envy. For the next 20 minutes I read, in my most slow-paced and animated voice, into what sounded like dead air to me.

It was all a bit strange and a few times I wondered, "What if they've lost connection with my cell? What if I've been reading the past chapter only to myself?"

"Can you hear me, Major Tom?"

But it all worked as planned and here is the link to the show:

MagicBlox Rocks!

(Yes, I did make that up. Thanks for noticing.)

I even squeezed in a plug about the FREE LESSON PLANS that can be downloaded from my publisher's site.

What?  You too would like these plans?


Follow this easy-peasy link and you too can use them at home or in your classroom:

 FANTASTICALLY FREE LOVELY LESSON PLANS FOR STUPENDOUSLY SPELLBINDING SPAGHETTI!

Again, my apologies if you are feeling queasy.  

I blame Dr. Seuss.

 

Try saying that three times fast.
(I double dog dare you.)

Spaghetti Launched at McNally's!

My smile swallowed my face. So happy.

It happened. My ultimate writing dream came true this past Saturday.

I said it in my launch speech and I'll say it here again, for every Winnipeg writer having their book launch at McNally's is as exhilarating as being a chocolate addict and winning a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

We began with running the incredible book trailer, followed by The Drew's introduction of me. He brought

The Drew. xoxo

gales of laughter when he remarked that he had been a fan of my body of work for years and then tears when he closed with his pride in my accomplishments.

When I then stood behind that podium and saw all those faces smiling back at me, I had a full Romper Room moment. All I needed was that monstrous mirror she held and it would've gone a little like this;

"I see Sarah and Thomas and Daniel and Emma and Melody and Neve. I see Lauren, and Brynne, and Kaiya and Signy and Ella. Oh look, it's Abi
and Katya and Laura. And is that Wren and Karissa and Shay and Tait, too?"

Hello Peeps! You all Came!!!

Really, I could go on like that for hours. No jokes. But honestly, with every new face I saw, I felt a surge of joy.

The Hartmichaels on Another Grand Adventure.

McNally's, the finest Independent Book Store in all of the world, went above and beyond.

They moved book shelves out of the way to expand our space, served the most scrumptious chocolate chip cookies a kid could ever ask for (even better than mine, I've since been told), and tolerated my rambunctious children as they raced through the children's department as if it were their second home as it is mine.

Apparently watching your mom sign books for an hour and half is 100% Dullsville, when you're 8 and 12.

And McNally's graciously allowed us to sell Spaghetti book posters as a fundraiser for Asperger Manitoba. Anne Kresta was in attendance and was able to disseminate important information about the services and support that Asperger Manitoba Inc provides to Manitoban families.

My thanks to all who showed up, if not in body, but in spirit - you made me feel like the Queen of Books.

To my publisher Little Pickle Press for designing a book I am proud to call my own, with Lesson Plans, book marks and posters to accompany it - what else could I ask for? You are stupendous.

Now, about that next book...

Spaghetti Launches Today!

The day has come. The day I have dreamt of since Little Pickle Press offered to publish my book..

The Book Launch for Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food and Other Life Lessons.

When I first signed with Little Pickle, the marketing strategy was to launch digitally first, see if we had an audience, and follow with a print book if deemed appropriate. Our plan was to wait until we had a sufficiently large school order down in the states and then we'd start our first print run.

But Connor's story was a hit and ba-blam! Rana pressed the print key and voila 5,000 copies of my beautifully illustrated book were ready within days.

Joff Schmidt and I.

Yes, my outfit matches my book cover.

I started this morning with an interview on CBC Radio with Joff Schmidt. We talked about writing, kids, and Asperger's Syndrome.

Our chat, as far as I could tell, was going extremely smoothly, until a flock of runners in bright yellow t-shirts stopped to wave wildly at us through the ginormous window that faces the studio. Exactly what a person with my focus issues does not need when on live radio.

Might as well have been a tap dancing purple unicorn or an elephant sized squirrel juggling cannon balls outside that window.

Thankfully, Joff is a pro and helped me redirect my attention back into the room.

So here are the deets for today!

McNally Robinson Booksellers.

When: 2:00 pm - in the Atrium

There will be cookies, punch, coffee, tea and water. Oh, and of course paper books aplenty. And to support Asperger Manitoba Inc, McNally's is allowing us to sell book posters at the launch, with all proceeds benefiting AMI. Have I mentioned before how much I love McNally's? And what about my publisher, Little Pickle Press, who generously donated hundreds of posters?

Now it's time to get myself book launch ready. New blue and green outfit. Check. Painted matching blue toes. Check. T-Rex the Gecko earrings. Double-check!

Hugs,

Jodi

Spaghetti at #5 on McNally's Best Sellers List!