Fact, Fiction, or Freaky?

You know that feeling when you meet someone for the first time and you feel like you've known them all your life?

Or when you see someone's "twin" at the mall or the movie theatre and you are 100% sure they were not separated at birth, like in a cheesy after-school special?

Weird, for sure.

Something very similar happened to me, but it doesn't fall into either of those two freaky categories. It's stranger than fact or fiction.

Is it Karma? The Universe? Or the Great and Powerful Oz? 

(Yes, we watched the critically un-acclaimed Muppet's Wizard of Oz on the weekend. Twice. It was one of the world's worst Ground Hog Day moments.)

Ah, but I have drifted.

The point is, that whatever the source, what happened to be me last week was extremely odd.

It's a sort of Literary Doppelganger.

Are you ready to be slightly amused, dumbfounded, or quite possibly all-out shocked?

Mr. B.'s Doppelganger - Mr. Hoover the Principal.

When I received my eBook, back in December, I noticed a striking similarity in appearance of one of the characters in the book to one of the teachers at the school where I work.


What a cute coincidence I thought.

Mr. B IS Mr. Hoover.

Once I received the paper book, I quickly realized one of the other characters looked like another one of our illustrious teachers.

Coincidence again?  

Methinks not.

It was so eerie that the staff began to wonder if I had this done on purpose. But since I wrote the book 4 years ago, and only started at Linden Meadows last year, this is impossible.

Mr. Hood IS Mr. Cohen.

Mr. Hood's Doppelganger - Mr. Cohen the Librarian

(Plus, my cartooning abilities remain firmly in the stick people realm.)

I am now looking to find Mrs. Rosetti, Mr. O'Brien and Mrs. Chan in the faces of our staff. Who knows whose fictional twin is lurking in the halls of Linden Meadows...

Celebration Carmichael Style

The Drew never lost faith in me, even when I had.

Last night, we had a fun filled evening at Boston Pizza. We were celebrating the arrival of the paper version of, Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food and Other Life Lessons.

Here's a tribute to my most amazing family. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a family to nurture a writer.

Thank you so much.

I love you all to the moon and back. 

 

Sarah is so excited, that she  keeps offering free copies to her friends.

Emma's 2nd grade class was my fist Beta audience.

Without my mom. there would be no book. She enrolled me in my first writing course.

Judith babysat so that I could go to writing conferences & workshops.

My dad spent hours supporting me on my blog book tour, posting comments as we toured the world wide web.

Our new favourite bedtime story.

 

Hot off the Presses...

...and into my Cool Hands!

WOOOOHOOOOOO!

My box of author copies of Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food and Other Life Lessons arrived today!

So excited, I think I may stroke out. Must take a breath. Or twelve.

Happy Dancing as I type. Sounds impossible, but not when you are a pro like me.

I send a huge, heartfelt thank you to my publisher Rana DiOrio and all of Team Pickle. Most especially, Cameron Crane, Dani Greer, Khadijah Lacina, Sarah Seward, Leslie Iorillo, and Kelly Wickham. And a digital thanks to Aarti and Chintu Parikh of Kite Readers for creating the best digital book a writer could ask for.

And my congratulations to Spaghetti's talented illustrator, Sarah Ackerley. You brought Connor to life, exactly as I imagined.

I feel like that little youtube girl who sings,

"I love my life. I love my hair. I love everything."

 And to my supportive family and friends,

"I love you. I love your hair...I love everything about you!"

The Book's in the Mail

"©2012 Little Pickle Press reprinted with permission"

Just got the great news.

My book has left the printer and is heading across North America to arrive at my front door. Maybe as soon as tomorrow!

I can hardly wait to hold it. To slide my fingers across it's glossy cover, opening the book to the dedication page - to read it out loud to my family. Pretty sure the tangy smell of the ink will jellify my knees.

Yes, only a true booky would swoon at the scent of a freshly printed book.

I may even take my book out for a cocktail to celebrate. Maybe a Cosmo or Manhatten in some cozy fireside lounge in the charming Old Market Square section of downtown Winnipeg.

Uhm, sorry. I got a little carried away.

What we will have, is a night out Carmichael-Style. 

Family dining ala Boston Pizza. 

Brimming bowls of Bugs n' Cheese for the girls, the feature special for The Drew and I and icy cold cokes for us all. That's just the way The Carmichaels roll, baby. (Yes, we've been watching too many Cake Boss reruns.)

Of course, the evening will be topped of by "an all hands on deck" Happy Dance in our living room before bed.

And just guess what our bedtime story will be.

Available for order at McNally Robinson
Available for order through Little Pickle Press

How do you celebrate family achievements? I'm looking for suggestions.

(It's time to push beyond insect-shaped pasta and pizza.)

 

Now Digitally Advanced

Yup. That's me. On the leading edge of digital technology. Sort of.

I'm actually describing my tech-genius husband, The Drew.

Thanks to his computer wizardry my website address: www.jodicarmichael.com now magically transfers you here to my blog.

Coincidentally, my blog is my website. For now. One day soon, The Drew is going to share his knowledge and guide me through creating my own site.

As long as I don't need an advanced degree in HTML, I'm good to go.

Manners - Don't Even Get Me Started!

Yes I did. I went there. Manners. Booyah! Sexy blog topic, for sure.

It's a culture of disrespect, we're living in people. Rudeness, I tell ya', is everywhere.

Cutting in line at the grocery store, stealing a parking spot, leaving the toilet seat up, NEVER saying please or thank you. Where will it end?  (And might I add there should be huge fines for that whole lavatory issue.)

If I hear one more person place this order, "I want the Super Colossal Artery Busting Burger, hold the mayo," I may in fact, lose my last remaining ounce of patience. Although their selection of grease on a bun is a concern, it's their under-use of the undervalued, but much appreciated magic word, please, that has my nickers in a knot. 

Please.

Every third grader has it memorized. It is only one syllable. How hard can it be to remember?

I think it all stems from the hyper-focus we place on our own needs, with a blind disregard, an inattention if you will, to what matters to others. (Splashing into a cold bowl of water at 2am is never pleasant.)

Why am I on a politeness rant this morning? Because I am 100% guilty. My telephone manners slipped to an all time low. I was firmly entrenched in Blogger Brain, writing this very post, when the telephone rang. (I do believe that is a strong case of irony.)

And how did I answer the phone, greeting the caller, making them feel as if I welcomed their call? Not, "Good morning," or "Hello" or even touting our multicultural community did I sing out "Bonjour."

No, deep in my own world, completely forgetting all decorum, I picked up the phone and uttered, 

"Hey."

Followed by,"What"

And my final feeble attempt of, "Uhm, hi this is Jodi."

Of course the caller, was silent not knowing what nut house she had called.

Good grief.

What I did score full marks on was inattention. But that's a whole other blog post.

And I ain't got nothin' on Thomas C. Farley, a.k.a. Mr. Manners.

Click here to get your manners' clock cleaned:

What Manners Most 

Gestures of Kindness

As a writer, I have a natural and often insatiable curiosity about people.

What motivates others to act the way they do? Say the things they do? I'm also intrigued by how other people see the world and each other.

Many years ago, I read a newspaper article that featured a homeless man. When asked what was the worst thing about living on the street, he didn’t answer what many of us would think the obvious - the cold - the hunger - the danger.

Nothing even close.

He said something along the lines of,  

“When people see me, they no longer see a human being. When folks toss money into my can, they never look me in the eye. I’m no longer worthy of a smile.”

Such a tiny gesture of kindness. A smile. A friendly, “Hello.” To be given the common courtesy of being looked in the eye. Treated like a fellow human being.

That stuck with me. The need to matter – to count as important. How hard is it look someone in the
eye?

I changed the way I treated those with their hands outstretched. I stopped judging and starting smiling. It made me look for the good in people.

All people.

I'm not perfect, nor do I ever aim to be, and I'm certainly not 100% at finding the good in people. Trust me, it can be a challenge. Sometimes I'm too cranky or self-involved with my own life to be the kind of person I want to be.

But, I'm trying. I'm still a work in progress, as we all are, really.

Has there been a moment, an event, in your life that made you change your viewpoint? 

I'd love to hear about it.

Central Canada Lit Fest

I'm growing more excited about presenting at the first Central Canada Lit Fest in Winnipeg.

My topics: 

Creating Characters with Special Needs in MG/YA Fiction; The Importance of Blog Book Tours; and Kindle, KOBO, and NOOK - Reading in a Digital Age.

Central Canada Lit Fest

Young Adult | Fantasy | Paranormal Romance | Science Fiction | Horror

April 20th & 21st

Central Canada Lit Fest

April 20th & 21st 2013

Place Louis Riel

190 Smith Street

Winnipeg, MB.

Canada

Come join us for two days of learning and sharing the craft of writing.

Follow this link to the schedule:

C4 Lit Fest Schedule