author visits – Page 2 – Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Tuesday afternoon: Lynne Valley PL and Kidsbooks

After speaking to big groups in the morning, it was a refreshing change to speak with a small group of homeschooled students and their parents. It was more like a conversation than a presentation and each person there had the opportunity to ask questions and comment. Thank you, Rachel Brown, librarian! I loved every minute of it!

I dropped by Kidsbooks on Edgemont to sign stock copies of my books and asked Alex to pose with me by the outdoor sign! I LOVE independent bookstores! What would authors do without the expertise and passion of independent booksellers?

After signing, I headed out to the Sea to Sky highway and drove to Pemberton — a 2+ hour GLORIOUS drive! I would have loved to take photos. The mountains and the sea were breathtaking. I kept my eyes glued to the road!

Tuesday: first up: Lynne Valley ES!

The last time I did a book tour for CCBC’s Canadian Children’s Book Week was way back in 2014 when I toured Quebec. Before that, I toured Alberta in 2008 and Manitoba in 2002. It’s always a great opportunity to interact with students and educators that I’d never otherwise get to meet. I was at the school about thirty minutes early — I hate being late!

Teacher Librarian Kate Montgomerie greeted me with an enthusiastic smile and told me all about her fundraising efforts to increase her book buying powers. As she talked, she rearranged the library for my presentation, chatted with students, set up my power point. First up were grades 6&7 students, and the next were grades 5&6. I talked about why I write what I write, and my own struggles as a student. They were full of interesting questions and comments.

Mabel’s Fables triple book launch!

Many thanks to Eleanor LeFave and Mabel’s Fables for hosting a wonderful triple book launch last night! April is Canadian Independent Booksellers’ Month, so it was especially sweet to be in this iconic Canadian children’s bookstore right now.

It was an honour to be introducing my newest book with kidlit powerhouses Lorna Schultz Nicholson and Anna Rosner. An interesting and storied evening. And there were cookies and fruit! Thanks to everyone who came out and made it such a meaningful event.

Trilogy now available!

St. Sophia Saturday School

Attended a fantastic launch and presentation yesterday in Woodstock Ontario for Oleksa Drachewych’s new book, Replaying the Second World War, which documents the parallels between Soviet myths, national narrative and atrocities in WWII and what the Russians are doing now in Ukraine. The audience was so engaged that questions could have gone on for the rest of the day.

People had driven in from Hamilton and London to hear Oleksa’s talk, and also to participate in a display of Ukrainian culture. Students from St. Sophia Ukrainian Saturday school performed a dance. A number of the students had read my books and had questions, so after everything was over and people were packing up, we grabbed some chairs and the kids asked questions. I think every question began with, “I have a question, no, actually, I have two …” I was very impressed by these young people!

Roberts ES students always have such good questions!

Today was the 6th time media specialist extraordinaire Tiffanie Lifsey invited me to speak with her fifth grade students in Suwanee Georgia!

There were a lot of budding writers in the audience and many questions focused on that. For example, what does my editing process look like before I send a manuscript to the publisher? How many times in all does a manuscript for a novel go through editing? I think they were shocked by the answer.

There were also questions about the real people behind various characters, but this was the first time I was asked about how I researched for the character of Officer Schmidt, who made appearances in both Making Bombs and The War Below.

This is one of the classes at Roberts ES. I think there were 6 in all.

Thirty years of author photos

It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that my first book, Silver Threads, came out 30 years ago! Writers are by nature introverts, and one of the hardest things about being a writer is having to endure the “author photo” experience. My first few author photos were professionally taken, but after awhile, I just asked my husband to do it.

Children’s Book Week: touring British Columbia!

I’m thrilled to be touring British Columbia (North Vancouver and Sea to Sky Region) with the Canadian Children’s Book Centre during the week of April 26th! I’d love to visit your school or library! Please help spread the word. Here’s my info sheet with application details.

Visiting Deretchin School, October 20th

I have been corresponding with Cristofer Mattern, librarian-extraordinaire at Deretchin school for several years so when I finally got to present in person, it felt like coming home.

All of the presentations and lunches were in the library, which was a cozy and comfortable place to do them. I got so many heartfelt questions and responses from kids and educators — just wonderful!

Visiting Wilkerson Intermediate

When librarian Monica Wetzig brought me in to her library, one of the very first students I met was a girl who had come in to see me, but also one who Ms Wetzig had selected to eat lunch with me. It turned out the student was ecstatic. She had come into the library to give me a special gift because we shared a heritage — she was also Ukrainian — plus she loves my books. Ms Wetzig had no idea she was Ukrainian, just that she was an avid reader. It was especially sweet that she was selected for that reason! She brought me a Ukrainian flag and socks!

And she drew this flag for me, with a special message on the other side.

A whirlwind of presentations and lunch chats. A fantastic day!