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. 

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!

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.