Are you sad?

I read somewhere that there's nothing sadder than an author's old blog. So, to avoid breaking the hearts of and causing misery to my readers (???) I've decided to post something today.

Right.

So anyway, the journey of this new author continues...

My publisher has kindly afforded me a publicist who will be working with me here, in Toronto. The funny thing (or not so funny, depending on how you look at it) is that she has the exact same name as my son's grade 4 teacher. And it's not a terribly common name, either. I had my fingers crossed that she wasn't the same person, 'cause, well, she might not have wanted to represent me if she happened to be the same person who sat across from me and had very little good to say all those years ago. What is it with teachers who can't find anything positive to say about their students? Well, that's a whole other topic - which will never be discussed here. I'm still a tad bitter, as you might be able to tell. That's why I was hoping for the name thing to just be a coincidence.

Well, luckily for me, the moment I spoke with her on the phone I realized that they're NOT the same person. (the lovely South African accent gave it away) Did I ever sigh a huge sigh of relief. And she told me she loves Smudge! (My son's grade 4 teacher would never have said that. She didn't like anything.) Anyway, I'm really excited to be working with her and am looking forward to what lies ahead. She exudes such optimism and energy - even over the phone - that I'm so confident she's going to do a fabulous job and get Smudge's name in front of people.

I've also 'virtually' met my U.S. publicist. She'll be working with me for Smudge's 2010 U.S. launch. She also seems like a truly fantastic person to have on my side and I'm excited to see how the U.S. market will welcome Smudge.

In the meantime, I've been preparing for Smudge's official launch that will take place on September 17 @ 7 pm at the McNally Robinson Bookstore in the Shops at Don Mills. I've also attended a massive family reunion this month, been organizing several author events at Chapters stores across the GTA that will happen after the Sept. 17th launch, and I've also been furiously putting the pieces of my second book together in hopes of having it polished and sparkly by Nov. 1st.

Who says teachers get their summers off?

So there you have it. I hope I've made my readers happy again. :)