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I just finished a week of lying on beaches and listening to live music in Cape Breton, the beautiful Nova Scotian island where I was born and raised. I always love spending time in Cape Breton, but this year I had an especially fun trip because I got to revisit some of the places that inspired my upcoming middle grade release, TOTALLY UNRELATED.

TOTALLY UNRELATED, about a family of musicians living and performing on Cape Breton Island, is my contribution to “Orca Limelights,� a new series of books for kids and young teens who are involved in the performing arts.

Orca will be releasing the first three Limelights titles in October. The other two are ATTITUDE by Robin Stevenson, and CUT THE LIGHTS by Karen Krossing. Karen and Robin and I thought it would be fun to help spread the word about the books by doing mini interviews on each others blogs. Over on Robin’s blog, you can read about Karen’s inspiration behind CUT THE LIGHTS, and if you click through to Karen’s website, you’ll find out a bit more about TOTALLY UNRELATED!

I have the honour of hosting the wonderful Robin Stevenson, who answered a few questions about ATTITUDE, which is set in the dramatic and demanding world of ballet. Robin is a dear friend, who helped me a lot at the start of my writing career. We lived in the same city (beautiful Victoria!) for a couple of years, and we often met to talk about writing and books and life in general. She’s a fabulous writer with several great titles under her belt, and I’m thrilled to be launching a book with her!

So without further ado, here are Robin’s answers to a few questions about ATTITUDE.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

ÌýWriting a one sentence synopsis is SO hard. But I will tryâ€�

�More than anything, Cassandra wants to be a dancer, but…� Okay, wait, that’s blah. Let me try again.

�When Cassandra arrives at the prestigious and highly competitive ballet school where she will spend her summer, she discovers that…� Um, well, she discovers all kinds of stuff—about dancing, about the other girls, and most of all, about herself. One sentence? Nope.

�There’s more to dancing than pink pointe shoes and tutus.� And that is totally cheating- my publisher came up with that cover copy.

�Ballet School meets Mean Girls.� Yuck.

�Cassandra has always wanted to dance, but when the girls at her new dance academy turn against her, she finds herself questioning her dream. ‘Courage, passion and dedication� is the school’s motto. Does Cassie have what it takes to become a professional dancer?� Hmm. That’s three sentences. See what I mean? Writing a synopsis is way harder than actually writing a book. I give up.

Each of the Limelights novels is about a performing art. Why did you chose to write about ballet?Ìý

When I was a child, I loved reading about kids who had a passion for something—anything, really� and were single-mindedly dedicated to their goals. I loved Noel Streatfeild’s novels about kids who were talented dancers and tennis players and actors and circus performers and skaters. My favorite of all her books was Ballet Shoes.

It has always seemed to me that ballet requires a level of dedication and sacrifice that few other arts demand- and that ballet demands this absolute commitment from dancers while they are incredibly young, at an age when most kids are many years away from needing to make decisions about their future goals. That fascinated me at least as much as the beauty of the art form itself.

Did you do any research about the performing art you chose to write about?

Yes, lots! This was one of the most enjoyable parts of the writing process. I did lots of reading, watched YouTube videos and dance documentaries—but what I really needed was help from young teens who could speak as insiders to the world of ballet.

Luckily my son has a friend whose thirteen year old sister is a very talented and committed dancer and choreographer. Sophia was involved right from the beginning, and if it wasn’t for her enthusiasm and encouragement I would never have got as far as submitting a proposal for the Limelights series. She demonstrated arabesques and attitudes, talked about the joys and challenges of ballet, shared insights that helped me develop my characters, and answered many technical questions.

A friend put me in touch with a slightly younger girl, Sasha, who is also a brilliant dancer. Sasha met with me, talked about her dancing, shared a project she had done on ballet, and invited me to watch her dance class—which I very much enjoyed. She also introduced me to her ballet teacher, Maureen Eastick, who very generously allowed me to watch as she taught and inspired a group of young teen dancers.

Sophia, Sasha, and a third young ballet dancer, Alyssa, also read and critiqued my manuscript and saved me from any number of errors. The book is dedicated to three of them.

How are you like (or different from) your main character?

Well, I’m unlike Cassie in that I have no talent for dance! But Cassie is from Australia, a country I love. I spent two years as a teen and young adult living in Adelaide, Cassie’s hometown. More importantly, I remember being a young teen very vividly and have a lot of empathy for girls this age. Cassie wants to fit in but also wants to be kind� and to do the right thing. Like Cassie, I very much wanted to be liked, to be accepted, to be part of a group. I felt tremendous guilt over treating others badly- but despite this, I didn’t always do the right thing. Navigating social situations as a young teen can be really, really hard.

Have you done any performing arts as a teen or adult?

No, none at all. At least not voluntarily. I still shudder when I remember having to sing a solo of Hey Jude in grade eight music class. In addition to being an introvert, I am a complete klutz: I can’t think of many things I’d hate more than doing something that involves physical coordination while in front of an audience. Despite this- or maybe because of this� I have huge respect for those that do

If you could be proficient at any one “performance skill� what would it be?

That is such a great question� so hard to choose just one but so much fun to ponder the possibilities! Maybe violin� I’ve always wanted be able to play a violin, though apparently not enough to do the work of learning. On the other hand, since this is pure fantasy, it’d be pretty cool to be a trapeze artist.

�-

Tom again � thanks a million to Robin for answering some questions about ATTITUDE! If you want to learn more about TOTALLY UNRELATED, check out , and if you’re looking to find out about CUT THE LIGHTS, Karen’s tale of a high school theatrical performance, head on over to

In the meantime, feel free to add ATTITUDE, CUT THE LIGHTS and TOTALLY UNRELATED on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. Happy Reading!

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It’s TAG ALONG cover reveal time! TAG ALONG (Orca Book Publishers) is the followup to my debut YA novel WAY TO GO. It will be released on October 1st and I am really excited about it!

I’m totally in love with the cover of TAG ALONG. One of the biggest inspirations behind the book was my love of ‘teen movies,� from the 80s, 90s and early 2000s. I’ve always loved movies that take place over one night, like Can’t Hardly Wait and Dazed and Confused. It’s always been one of my favourite plot structures to follow several people around over the course of one night, and I decided to attempt my own story based on that very idea.

What makes the cover so awesome to me is that it totally reminds me of a movie poster for the kinds of movies that inspired the book in the first place! So awesome, but I’m not going to show it to you here. I want to make you to work for it a little bit.

Here’s the synopsis, to get you excited.

SYNOPSIS : It’s junior prom night. Andrea is grounded, Paul is having panic attacks, Roemi has been stood up, and Candace is trying to avoid one particular cop. Over the course of eight eventful hours, paths are crossed, plans are changed, messages are mixed, and four near strangers form some unlikely bonds.

To celebrate the reveal of the cover, I’ve solicited the help of four amazing book bloggers. Since TAG ALONG is told from four different perspectives, each blogger will be revealing the cover along with one of the four first chapters, each one told from the perspective of the four main characters, Andrea, Paul, Candace and Roemi.

I want you guys to have the chance to read a bit about each of these four characters, and find out how their epic night starts out. ÌýOnce you’ve checked out the cover and read all four chapters, why not Ìý

So, ready?ÌýThe cover and opening chapters can be found at the following sites!

To see the cover and read ANDREA’s first chapter,

To see the cover and read PAUL’s first chapter,

To see the cover and read CANDACE’s first chapter,

To see the cover and read ROEMI’s first chapter, .

Thanks for checking them out � hope you love the cover as much as I do!

White Pine voting has begun! Check out the video below for details on my White Pine contest!

I’ll be announcing a swag pack winner on this site every day until the 30th. To be eligible for a swag pack, leave a comment with your email address below this post. To be eligible for the Grand Prize (A signed and personalized copy of WAY TO GO, a copy of WITCHLANDERS by Lena Coakley, and winner’s choice of one of the other 2013 White Pine nominated titles) enter the raffle below. Remember, the more options you fill out, the more chances you have to win!

To enter the contest do any or all of the following � each option puts your name in the hat so the more you do, the more chance you have to win :

1. Leave a comment on this blog post, along with your email address.

2. “Like� my

3. â€�â€� on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

4. Follow on Twitter and send me a tweet (just tweet if you already follow me)

5. Subscribe to myÌýÌýand leave a comment (just leave a comment if you’re already subscribed)

6.ÌýTweet about the contest (once a day if you’re so inclined â€� each tweet gives you a chance to win!) â€� Here’s a sample Tweet : Books and Swag!ÌýÌýis hosting an amazing White Pine awards giveaway!ÌýÌýRT to enter!

Good luck! I’ll be back in a week to announce the grand prize winners.

I’ve beenÌýtagged by Hilary Graham onÌýThe Next Big Thing Blog Tour!ÌýFind out about her work-in-progress â€� GIRLS LIKE ME â€� over on her !

And here’s some info aboutÌýmyÌýWork-In-Progress.

What is your working title of your book? ÌýTAG ALONG

What genre does your book fall under? ÌýContemporary YA.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in aÌýmovie rendition? For Andrea, I’d cast Ariel Winter, who plays Alex on Modern Family. Karan Brar from the “Diary of a Wimpy Kidâ€� movies would make a great Roemi. Shailene Woodley, from “The Descendantsâ€� and soon to star in “Divergentâ€� would be perfect as Candace. Finally, Tyler Posey from “Teen Wolfâ€� would be an awesome Paul.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?ÌýAndrea, Paul, Candace and Roemi aren’t friends â€� they barely even know each other â€� but they do have one thing in common: it’s prom night, and for very different reasons, none of them is at the big event. Over the course of one crazy night, paths are crossed, plans are changed, messages are mixed, and things definitely do not end the way they began.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?Ìý I wrote the first draft in six months, alternating with editing WAY TO GO (my debut.)

SoÌýThe Next Big Thing Blog TourÌýhas been going on for a long time now (22 weeks?) which might explain why I didn’t have any luck finding anyone willing to be tagged! So I guess this is the end of the road for this branch of the tour!

However, stay tuned to my website � next week I’ll be launching a big contest with awesome prizes!

Just over a year ago, I posted a letter to my teenage self on the fantastic website Dear Teen Me. () Dear Teen Me was the brainchild of E. Kristin Anderson and Miranda Keneally, and is structured around a simple, but amazing, premise � if YA authors had the chance to get in touch with their much younger selves, what would they tell them? Writing a letter to my fifteen year old self was eye-opening, to say the least, and the whole experience was very rewarding.

A few weeks after my letter was posted, I was contacted by the ladies at Dear Teen Me and asked if I wanted to propose a new letter for an upcoming Dear Teen Me anthology. They didn’t have to twist my arm � I gladly wrote a new letter and sent it off to team DTM, and was thrilled to hear it would be included in the book. Tomorrow, on October 30, Dear Teen Me : Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves, will officially hit the shelves. I’m honoured and excited to be part of such a great project, and humbled to be featured alongside so many other fantastic YA authors!

E.K. Anderson wrote a great piece for Huffington Post BooksÌý(which was noticed and facebooked/tweeted about by the one and only Anne Rice!) about building theÌýDear Teen MeÌýwebsite and anthology -

Zest Books, who published the anthology, is running a series of events as well as a blog tour (this is my contribution!) �

If you’re interested in buying a copy of the anthology, it’ll be in bookstores tomorrow, or you can order a copy :

IndieBound:Ìý[and your favorite independent bookseller by extension!]Ìý

Amazon:Ìý

Barnes and Noble:Ìý

The Book DepositoryÌý(free shipping internationally to any country):Ìý

Zest BooksÌýDearÌýTeenÌýMeÌýbook page also has a “buy nowâ€� button:Ìý

Congratulations to Miranda, Emily and the gang at Zest Books!

Ìý

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Check out the list of and for more information aboutÌýtheÌý!

Tonight, a bunch of my oldest, best friends are coming to visit. They’ll spend the weekend helping us warm our new house in our new city, and we’ll cook some turkey and eat some pie. For those of you who don’t live in Canada and might not realize it, yes, we celebrate Thanksgiving in October, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. October is far and away my favourite month � it’s crisp and beautiful, full of great food and long walks through the colourful Canadian forest. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the perfect time to reflect on all the great things that have happened over the previous year.

I’m obviously grateful to have published my first novel. I’m amazed every day that WAY TO GO is rolling around out there in the big wide world, and I’m thrilled to have met so many great people � readers, bloggers, and other writers � who’ve enriched my life in ways I can’t even begin to describe. I’m also incredibly fortunate to have a huge and solid group of friends and family who have, as always, provided lots of support and enthusiasm during this exciting step in my life � it’s a great feeling to know that I have so many great people backing me up in every possible way.

I’m excited that I received an email today containing the first round of edits to book #2 � TAG ALONG. When editing WAY TO GO, I had such a great time with, and learned so much from, my editor Sarah Harvey at Orca Book Publishers. WAY TO GO wouldn’t have been half the book it turned out to be without her guidance, and I’m thrilled to get started on this next book. I haven’t so much as glanced at TAG ALONG since I submitted it last November, so it’ll be cool to come at it with fresh eyes.

By the way, Sarah’s latest book â€� â€� was just released into the world and it’s a doozy! ÌýI’ve read it, and I’m here to tell you that it’s going to make some serious waves. If you are so inclined, I highly recommend . It’s a great story, and has an incredible cover to boot. Congratulations Sarah!

Finally, I am especially excited to finally announce some awesome news that I’ve been holding in for a few weeks. Today I signed two new contracts with Orca, and I couldn’t be more excited about these books. Orca’s new series � LIMELIGHTS � will be launched in Autumn 2013. Books in the LIMELIGHTS series will focus on teens in the performing arts, and I’m happy to say that I’ve been working on two great stories as part of this exciting new endeavour.

FAMILY BAND is set in Deep Cove, the same Cape Breton Island town featured in WAY TO GO, and focuses on Shamus McClintock, the middle child in a very special, very musical family. Shamus has been playing Celtic music since practically the day he was born, but what he really wants is to break away from his famous family and do his own thing. When a new opportunity throws his commitment to his family into question, Shamus is forced to confront his priorities, and his future, head on.

BIG TIME tells the story of Gerri Jones, who has dreamed of becoming a professional singer since as far back as she can remember. Gerri grew up singing old school country tunes with her granddad, and she knows she’s got a good voice. When the popular reality TV singing competition, Bigtime, comes to town, Gerri stands in line for hours to try out, but when an underwhelming audition and some harsh feedback lead her to question her abilities, Gerri begins to wonder if a life devoted to music is really all it’s cracked up to be.

I feel very fortunate these days. I’m doing something I love, and I have some great projects on the go that make me excited to get out of bed in the morning � what could be better? This weekend, when the turkey’s been picked clean and I’m collapsed on the couch, barely able to move, I will definitely have a lot to be thankful for.

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Whoa. What a summer.

Over the last three months, a lot of things happened :

- I moved from British Columbia to Ontario. Instead of flying we chose to drive across the continent (hello Great Falls, Montana! hello Chicago! hello terrifying Grizzly Bear on the side of the road!)

- I took two trips home to Nova Scotia, which involved lots of swimming, sailing, BBQ’s, and catching up with family and friends. As always, my time in NS was far too short, and I didn’t get to see everyone or do everything I wanted to, but that’s all the more reason to work towards my plan to make millions and move back east to build my solid gold mansion. Hopefully the book I’m working on now, “Larry Botter and the Sparkling Vampires of Panem� will be a step in the right direction.

- I started painting and organizing our new house (best office ever! yay!) and began to explore the new city.

- I also sadly neglected the website. What else is new? But now that the overwhelming summer is more or less over and fall is pretty much here (sorry for those of you who hate to see the summer go, but I love the fall, it’s hands down my favourite time of year, oh yeah) I’m raring to get back into blogging. I’ve been thinking about tweaking a few things as I move forward. I want to refresh some of the smaller details, like biography content and reviews for WAY TO GO and I want to add “buy the book� buttons on the homepage. I also have a more ambitious plan to start doing more videos for the site and my YouTube channel. I have a great office in the new place, and I have a corner that I’m going to set up for video recording. This could be dangerous!

Finally, here are a few pieces of news about WAY TO GO and some of my other projects :

1) WAY TO GO has been getting some really good reviews, which makes me very happy. It’s been favourably reviewed by Publishers Weekly, Voya, Booklist, and Quill & Quire among a bunch of others. (scroll down to read them)

2) I’m going to be published again! Soon! About a year ago I was asked to contribute to the Dear Teen Me anthology. After my was published on the Dear Teen Me website, I was contacted by Miranda Kenneally and E. Kristin Anderson, who created the site, and asked if I wanted to write a brand new letter for their anthology, which will be released in November. I’m pretty excited to be part of this exciting project, and thrilled to be included alongside so many great YA writers! As the release date approaches, I’ll be posting more details about the book and my contribution, and running a contest or two!

3) I’m expecting to begin editing book #2 sometime in October � I’ve been wracking my brain to come up with a new title (original title was Tag Along � I hate it)� I might be sending out a request for suggestions, we’ll see how the next wave of brainstorming goes!

4) Finally, I have some exciting projects in the works, and I’m really hoping to have some good news to share in the coming weeks and months. All will be revealed in time!

Hope everyone has a great labour day weekend, and jumps into fall with both feet � savour the sweater weather!

Ìý

Hi! Welcome! You’ve made your way to Tom Ryan’s pit-stop on theÌýYAmazing Race with MGnificent prizes!ÌýIf you’ve been running the race already, and you know what I’m talking about, feel free to skip the next paragraph!

For those of you who may have landed on my page with no knowledge of the contest, theÌýYAmazing RaceÌýis a wild and crazy blog hop featuring more than 50 debut authors and lots of amazing prize packages, featuring everything from signed books (including a signed copy of my debut â€� WAY TO GO!) to gift certificates, bookmarks, and lots of other cool stuff. You have one week from today (Race begins at noon EST on May 2nd and runs till noon EST on May 8) to run the race. Sound good? Great! Head over to the Apocalypsies homepage to read the rules and get started!Ìý

Now on to the race!

For my portion of the contest, just read the following synopsis of WAY TO GO. Make sure to pay close attention � it contains all the info you need for the quiz.

Kierce has a rule for everything, not to mention his whole future planned out. Jay has bad grades, no plans, and could care less. As for Danny, he’s stuck somewhere in the middle and can’t stop stressing out about it. His dad keeps nagging him about his post-high school plans, his friends won’t stop bugging him about girls, and a run-in with the cops means he has to to get a summer job at The Sandbar, the newest restaurant in town � about the last thing he had planned. Worst of all, the secret he’s been keeping for years is threatening to spill out into the open.

Just when he’s beginning to wonder how he’ll get through the summer, let alone survive another year in Deep Cove, Danny meets Lisa Walsh. Lisa is dynamic, beautiful, and different from any girl he’s ever known. She’s also from New York City, which is about as far from Deep Cove as the dark side of the moon. For the first time in a while, things begin to look like they might turn out all right after all � that is, if friends, family, and reality don’t get in the way.

Got it? Great! Before you continue on with the race, a couple of things � WAY TO GO is available on , , and , so if it sounds like your kind of book, consider clicking through and ordering it now!

One more thing! If you have a second, consider entering my personal contest down below! I’ll be giving away a prize package that includes a signed copy of WAY TO GO and some swag!

Got all that? Great! Now it’s time to continue on the race. Head on over to visit , author of OLDSOUL � good luck and have fun!

You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway.

Ìý

Okay, so yesterday I got a bit of a tough love lecture from a certain someone in the marketing department at a certain publisher (*cough* LeslieatOrca *cough*) who strongly suggested that I find the time to update my blog.

I know, I know, she’s right � I’ve been totally M.I.A! But I have to tell you, it’s been one hell of a month!

Right now I’m at a coffee shop in downtown Ottawa, taking a bit of a break from exploring the city that I’ll soon be calling home. In a couple of months we’ll be leaving the west coast after two great years and starting the trek back east, and so we’re here looking for a place to live. There’s been a lot to wrap my head around over the last few weeks. Preparing for the second big move in as many years. Getting ready to say goodbye to great friends and a great city that I’ve come to love.

I feel like I’m forgetting something�

Oh yeah, that’s it! WAY TO GO is finally out in the world. I’m a bonafide published author, and believe me, it’s kind of hard to believe. People are actually reading a book that I wrote!

I have a lot of thoughts to wrap up into words over the next few weeks. Thoughts about the entirely new set of concerns and excitements and challenges that pop up once your book hits the shelves. Thoughts about dealing with reviews, trying to keep your head above water in the wild world of online marketing, and the importance of picking up your pen and continuing to write, even � especially � on mornings when it’s difficult to feel inspired.

But that stuff can wait for a little while.

Right now, the most important thing is for me to say thank you.

In my acknowledgements, I was able to thank the many wonderful people who helped me along the road to publication. Now I want to throw out a HUGE thank you to all the people who have taken the time to read WAY TO GO and tell me what they thought. I’ve been overwhelmed with kind messages and emails, my Facebook feed has been full of great photos of people holding the book, and some of my favourite booksellers (I’m especially looking at YOU, , , and !) have been enthusiastically promoting it. I’ve also been interviewed and featured on some fantastic websites, and I truly appreciate all of those efforts to get my book some notice � I’ll link to them down below.

Writing is a solitary art � it’s can be easy to forget that eventually, if things go well, the book will head out into the world, and the power will pass to the reader. As Anne Patchett says (and which I’ve blatantly stolen from my editor Sarah’s email signature), “Once the book is written, its value is for the reader to decide, not for the author to explain.� How gratifying to hear from so many people that WAY TO GO has entertained and moved them in some way. I can’t imagine a better feeling.

I promised a bit of exciting news, but I’m waiting for the right moment to reveal it. Rest assured, it’ll be worth the wait! (Sorry Leslie! The picture of the pooch will have to tide you over