Spies, Secrets, and the SOE: Oh My!

It's been nearly two months since I last blogged. Between Christmas, working three jobs, and my newest middle grade work in progress, I've been all consumed.

But, peeps, I am so excited about my latest novel that I must share some deets with you! Thanks to a fellow "Anita" - Christina Janz (check out her most awesome blog, Dragonfly Dithers) who gave us a quick tutorial on Microsoft Onenote, I can now share some of my character sketches, plot development, and research that is going into my latest book.

Ford and Ellie's Mostly Solved Mysteries: Family of Spies, is loosely based on the mystery of my Grandfather's still sealed World War II records. Few facts are known about his RCAF years. but family legends of spying with William Stephenson, covert flight plans, and code breaking abound. Ford and Ellie, two 12-year-old cousins solve the mystery while retracing their Great-Grandfather's SOE footsteps. It is a current day James Bond meets Spy Kids.

I'd like to introduce to you, the main character, Ford and his cousin Ellie:

These are the kids that have my mind a'whirling, their individual voices clear in my head. 

Now, if only I could get to France for some on the cobblestone ground research...

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!

A New Novel Begins

Today is a day of firsts.

I've never shared on my blog a section from one of my works in progress. I thought I'd pull out some courage and give it a go. Plus, many of my non-writer friends seem quite curious about the writing process.

When I was accepted into the Sheldon Oberman Mentorship Program, I shelved the young adult novel I was then writing. 

This past 9 months has brought me many writing rewards. Most importantly, three days ago I finished a complete rewrite of the novel I worked on with my mentor Carolyn Gray. It began as, Who Needs Romeo - A Tale of a Modern Day Juliet and finished as, Forever Julia.

It is the best novel I have written thus far. At least that's how I feel about my development as a writer.

This stretch of time has also allowed for the novel I cast aside to peculate in my mind, and my brain, and my head too. Yes, I am a die hard fan of Jack Black's School of Rock.

Yesterday I returned to, Gemini, writing a new first chapter. It gave me goosebumps. 

Will it survive my final edit? Who knows. 

I only know that it feels like the right start for now.

I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 1

Truth [trooth]  

actuality or actual existence.

In the shadows lurked the truth.

And it floated through the jack pines and skimmed over the peat bogs straight to the old log cottage that sat high on the rocks.

In the shadows lurked the truth.

And it hovered outside a bedroom window, where it peered through the cracked yellow plastic blind.

In the shadows it lurked.

And it melted into that room and waited at the end of the bed for the sleeping girl to see it.

In the shadows lurked the truth.

And at the first pale light of dawn, Kate screamed.

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!

Ode to Summer ALA Justin Timberlake

I am filled with great excitement. 

No, I didn't finish my next novel. (My muse has been on holiday. Or something.) 

No, I didn't shed that 10 pounds of extra baby weight. (Yes, I realize my youngest is now nine-years old.) 

And I certainly didn't win any lotteries. (Apparently you need to play, to win.)

No, the big celebration is...

Summer is Returning! 

Yes, my fellow sun deprived heat seekers, we will be reaching temps of 35 degrees this weekend across Manitoba! (That's 95 for my American pals.)

So, what's the big deal?   

Last Smokin' Hot Day - July 4th

Lemme' fill you in on some fast weather facts. This summer has been a boon-dongle in terms of hot beach days. The last time our temps soared to 30 was July 4th. July 4th, peeps.  

Who knew Independence Day would be such a banner day for a bunch of chilly Canadians? 

Last July we had 15 plus 30 degree days. 15. Simply ridiculous.

To celebrate this outstanding weather, I wrote a song to thank dear Mother Nature. Please sing it loudly and proudly to the tune of Justin Timberlake's, Sexy Back.

Summer's Back 

 

Mother Nature's bringing summer back.

Yeah.

The sun’s been hiding for far too long. 

Yeah.

This cool weather just feels all wrong. 

Yeah.

It’s time for us to have a sun attack.

Yeah.

Take em' to the Beach.

Sandy kids.

Uh-huh.

You see their smiling faces, freckled too.

Uh-huh.

Making castles, underneath a sky of blue.

Uh-huh.

Oh, Mr. Sun we’ve been missing you.

Uh-huh.

Take em’ to the Beach!

Come here sun

Go ahead, enjoy it

Come to the Beach

Go ahead, enjoy it

Summer’s Here

Go ahead, enjoy it

The Water’s Warm

Go ahead, enjoy it

Lake Winnipeg

Go ahead, enjoy it

The Big Whiteshell

Go ahead, enjoy it

Lake of the Woods

Go ahead, enjoy it

Clear Lake, too

Go ahead, enjoy it

Take em’ to the Beach!

I will be dancing across Ponemah Beach singing, off-tune as I do, with carefree abandon this Saturday through Tuesday. 

Please join me if you're in the area. The cottage is always open to friends.

Too hot to handle.

Take em' to the Beach.

'Cuz the sun is high.

Take em' to the Beach.

Yeah!

 

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.)

Sweet Chocolate Bliss

"Do NOT Touch my Chocolato!"
AKA: The birth place of "Talk to the Hand."

My deepest gratitude to those Ancient Mayans and their discovery of chocolate. It truly makes my life complete.

As do my children. And The Drew. And the dog is pretty special, too. Of course that all goes without saying, right?

Recently I was interviewed by fellow Winnipeg writer, Susan Rocan for her delightful blog, My Withershins, named after her spell binding young adult novel, Withershins. (That's correct that was a blatant plug for her book.)

After asking me all the important authoresque questions, she got to the deets on what makes me tick - my favourite comfort food.

Without hesitation I listed chocolate in all it's glorious forms. Chocolate covered strawberries. Silky caramel en-robed in chocolate. Triple chocolate cookies as big as your face. (Because really, life is far too short for tiny treats.)

Today I discovered another chocolate delicacy, thanks to IKEA.

Winnipeg IKEA. Not even blizzards keep us away!

Yes, we Winnipeggers were overjoyed to welcome North America's largest IKEA to town earlier this year. And yes, IKEA is all we were hoping for in terms of inexpensive furniture, fabulous bedding, and shelves overflowing with kitschy nic-nacs.

My favourite IKEA find was their sweetly icing'd cinnamon buns. So cheap, so tasty, so yum.  Until today.

My discovery is so ground breaking it is...

 Beachus Interruptous Blogus Worthyum. 

(latin for: must share with other chocoholics, pronto.)

So here it is:

Jodi's 10 steps to IKEA Chocolate Nirvana

First, find a parking spot at your closest IKEA. Good luck.

Second, race to the foods section with your environmentally friendly cloth bag.

Third, load up on 99 cent milk chocolate bars as well as the darkest IKEA bar you can find.

Fourth, skip merrily to your car. If you can find it. Don't let chocolate delirium cloud your memory. Concentrate. You can find that automobile. If all else fails, pound on you key fob's panic button. Then follow the ear piercing siren. What do you care?  You're rich with chocolate.

Fifth, zip home. Carefully, my fellow chocolate addicts. You are almost to the chocolatey goodness part. Don't blow it with a speeding ticket.

Sixth, brew some coffee. Or pour a tall ice cold glass of milk. I leave the beverage of choice in your capable, now shaking hands.

Seventh, crack off large pieces of both the milk and dark chocolate bars. Lay one on top of the other. No, it doesn't matter which is on top. This is G-Rated peeps. Gheesh.

Eighth, bite into your IKEA chocolate stack. Chomp slowly, savouring the flavour.

Ninth, sip your freshly brewed coffee/icy milk.

Tenth, close your eyes and relax. You have entered IKEA Chocolate Nirvana

Did this photo make your heart skip a beat? 

Stay tuned for my next food related blog post:

The Carmichael Family Spaghetti Recipe

(Feeds 11 hungry, beach weary Canadians with leftovers for 4)

Off to America

Lexie our Ford Flex is packed stem to stern.

Family Road Trips!

Love em' or hate em', 'tis the season to set off to explore designations unknown.

(Read: a jaunt across the U.S. border to shop outlet malls and visit waterslides.)

For we Carmichaels that means farming out Zoe the Dog to Grandma Carmichael, Pink and Floyd the Gerbils to Granny, and Billy the Beta Fish to Grandpa Dave. Yes, it takes many grandparents to allow us to flee the city for five nights in the metropolis known as Minneapolis.


Ah America, our southern neighbour, how shiny and exciting you are to our soon to be nine-year-old and twelve-year-old daughters. The Lego Store, American Girl, Valley Fair and more, a mere eight hour drive
away.

When I suggested this adventure I was absolutely sure The Drew loved long car rides.

I personally would avoid them like mosquitoes in a bog, but I was certain he had a passion for them. Who doesn't want to sit crammed in a stuffy car, slowly losing all feeling in your buttocks, while your patience flees as quickly as a mangy dog flees a bath under a garden hose?

Apparently, I was wrong. In fact, he thought I had a yearning for a Carmichael Car Trip, because as kids my brother and I spent every summer at our cottage at Brereton Lake and never partook in this Canadian tradition.

Yes, yet another classic Three's Company Moment Ala Carmichael Style.

So, wish us luck as we cram ourselves into Lexie tomorrow at 7 am and head south.

First stop: Timmy's for two extra large double-doubles, followed by a Xanax chaser. 

No need to judge, people.

Coffee = Happy Mommy

What the...what?!

"Uhm, excuse me. I must confess...."

Okay, for those of you who don't know me well, here's the real truth. I have ADHD. When I first "outed" myself over on the Little Pickle Press website I was nervous and concerned about revealing too much of my inner workings.

It turned out that no one really cared that my grey matter differed from the "norm." Either people weren't at all surprised by my big "ta-da this is me confessional," or they could see all the perks that come along with a racing in a million directions, thinking outside the box mind like mine.

I was diagnosed as an adult, so I had a lot of catching up to better understand what is really going on in my noggin'. My favourite resource is Dr. Ned Hallowell, ADHD guru and fellow ADDer. Recently he posted a list of 50 Tips for the non-medication treatment of ADHD in adults.

Click here to read the whole list.

What I found incredibly surprising was the section on Mood Management. In particular tips #35 to 37 made me hyper-focus. Which means I did more than skim these points for the executive summary. I actually read each line.

What Dr. Hallowell shared was that there is a common cycle among adults with ADHD:  

"Something “startles” your psychological system, a change or transition, a disappointment or even a success. The precipitant may be quite trivial. This “startle” is followed by a mini-panic with a sudden loss of perspective, the world being set topsy-turvy. You try to deal with this panic by falling into a mode of obsessing and ruminating over one or another aspect of the situation. This can last for hours, days, even months."

Tissue, anyone?

These are the ADHD blues.

We are to expect depression after success.

Uhm pardon?

Yuppers, folks with ADHD often feel depressed after a big success.  

"This is because the high stimulus of the chase or the challenge or the preparation is over. The deed is done. Win or lose, the adult with ADHD misses the conflict, the high stimulus, and feels depressed."

When I read this I thought, "What the...what?! That has been happening my entire life!"

(Anyone else notice this dude seems to be missing an eyeball?)

It was like a missing puzzle piece slipped into place and now I know myself even better.

These ADHD blues are where I slip into a funk and stall. My writing pace slows, my brain gellyfies and I dwell on all the loose ends that need doing, yet they still don't actually get done because a serious triple dose of procrastination takes over.  Totally frustrating.


My book launch was a roaring success, and I had numerous tv and radio interviews, but by the time I was finished with all the excited hooplah, my hoop felt blah. I was spent. My blogpost about my tv interviews remains partially written. I slowed...down...to...a...stop. Of course, this was exactly when I started a second job. And my writing program was in full swing.

Then I stressed and obsessed over that blog post, which morphed into procrastinating about calling the school division to enquire about getting Spaghetti into the hands of teachers and spread like poison ivy onto the most crucial "to-do" on my list: 

When would I find the time to take the kids shopping for bathing suits? 

(And did you know my eldest daughter needs pants and I am too busy to take her shopping????) 

Yes, I am that kind of mother.

But now, I feel myself coming out the other side of those blahs, and back into the thick of it!

Look out world, my cheetah fast brain is ready...to...gooooooo!

That's my inner cheetah racing. Except I would have my bionic-women knee braces on all four of my furry legs.

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!

Riding a Rocket Ship

I feel a bit like Canadian astronaut, Chris Hadfield, flying high above the earth, except my feet are planted firmly on the ground.


My space travel is one of excitement and gratitude. 

Over the past two weeks, I have been honoured with winning two awards for my middle grade book, Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food and Other Life Lessons.

The first I received was a  Gold Mom's Choice Award. I got so excited, I gave myself a migraine and ended up in bed for most of the following day.

Yes, I am made of that sort of tough stuff.

On Mother's Day, I received the second award - A Silver Benjamin Franklin Award. This time, I was able to rein in my exuberance and remained migraine-free.

I must thank my publisher, Little Pickle Press, for having the faith in my book and entering Spaghetti for these prestigious awards.

As Connor's story reaches an ever widening and growing audience, I can't think of a better partner to have in the journey.

Hugs to you, Rana, and all of Team Pickle.