So, on Sunday, I attended Kitchener’s Word on the Street and moderated a panel discussion about teen fiction, YouTube and the Internet. By colleagues on the panel were Rebecca Anderson and James Alan Gardner. It was an interesting discussion, I thought, as we started out debating the usefulness of blogs. Jim refuses to run one because he believes it cuts into his writing time; I picture my blog as an electronic writing journal that keeps my fingers nimble and my mind alert, and Rebecca is somewhere in between.

The panel had a good energy to it, thanks especially to an audience that trickled in as we talked, and grew to a decent sized crowd, and there were a number of teenagers who seemed interested in what was going on. So, all in all, a successful outing, and we all had a lot of fun.

After the panel, I headed on over to the authors’ reading tent and listened to my mother read from her latest book, The Ruby Kingdom. She also attracted a good audience, most of whom (there were a lot of kids in attendance and asking them to sit still and listen is always a challenge) sat in rapt attention. And of course, there were booths and lots of people, all there to celebrate the glorious experience of the written word. It’s always heartening to see how many people are interested in books, and it’s a wondeful world to be a part of. So, thanks to the organizers for putting together another successful event.

The next task for me is to prepare for a professional development day in London, where school administrators are organizing an event linking authors with teachers and teacher librarians from area schools. Noted children’s book author Mem Fox will be giving the keynote, and I’ll have a chance, along with a number of other authors, to talk up my books before a receptive audience. Wish me luck.