Rae Bridgman News

4 August 2010

Enjoy reading about the MiddleGate Books and literary tourism -- think the Da Vinci Code tours of Parks, the historic Brothers Grimm fairy tale tours in Germany, Harry Potter tours in London, and most recently, the Stephenie Myers' Twilight tours in Forks, Washington. My article "Planners Work in Mysterious Ways...Literary Tourism and the Imagination" has just been published in the summer issue of Plan Canada.

And if you are looking for summer reads, Deirdre Baker offers some great recommendations. Check out her 2010 summer list as well as her 2009 holiday list of recent fantasy books for kids. I'm looking forward to reading Nancy Farmer's The Islands of the Blessed. (Great cover design!)

7 July 2010

Sophie's and Wil's magical adventures carry them to Iceland in the next MiddleGate Book! Kingdom of Trolls is being published by the Canadian publisher Sybertooth Publishing. Publishing date not yet set. Another piece of good news – Kingdom of Trolls is also being translated into Icelandic!

28 March 2010

Now you can take a virtual literary tour of MiddleGate's Hidden Secrets. Find the real sights of Manitoba that have inspired the magical places of the secret city of MiddleGate.

19 February 2010

Over the last two months, I've been working hard on another manuscript inspired by my research on homelessness, in parallel with polishing the next MiddleGate book. Book #4 is in the works. Here's a small hint of what's to come – psst! it's a half-gargoyle.

Half-gargoyle by Rae Bridgman

On my book shelf at the moment is James Gurney's book Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist. Much to learn from Gurney. He does lots of upfront prep work before he starts his illustrations: thumbnail sketches, colour compositions, as well as clay models, and mock-ups of little scenes.

Imaginative Realism:
How to Paint What Doesn't Exist

24 November 2009

Draft of the next MiddleGate book is finished (most of the illustrations too!). No news yet about when it will be published. In the meantime, there's a lovely site specially for kids' lit bibliophiles you'll want to look at. Just discovered it. More than one can read in a lifetime. Check out Kidlitosphere Centre - The Society of Bloggers in Children's and Young Adult Literature. For writers and readers of middle grade and young adult fantasy, look for the community of bloggers known as The Enchanted Inkpot.

17 September 2009

Have spent a wonderful summer writing and illustrating the fourth MiddleGate Book. As many will already know from reading Fish & Sphinx, Wil's and Sophie's adventures carry them to Iceland in this next book. Had the good fortune to be invited back again to spend the month of June at Skriðuklaustur near Egilsstaðir in East Iceland. I also released a copy of Fish & Sphinx "into the wild" (as part of my Find It. Read It. Pass It Along. campaign) ...right underneath Jón Gunnar Arnason's Sólfar (Sun Voyager) in Reykjavik's harbour.

Jón Gunnar Arnason's Solfar (Sun Voyager) in Reykjavik, Iceland - photo by Rae Bridgman 2009
Jón Gunnar Arnason's Sólfar (Sun Voyager) in Reykjavik's harbour
(photo by Rae Bridgman, June 2009)

And we finished up the studio course, It's a Bunny Eat Bunny World: Illustrating Children's Books the end of July. It was my first time teaching this new course at the University of Manitoba School of Art --- and as the old adage goes...A teacher learns as much as the students!

At the moment, I'm revising the new MiddleGate manuscript, but the BIGGEST piece of news is that the first three MiddleGate Books are going to come out in China. The People's Literature Publishing House of China in Beijing has bought the rights to all three, in a deal arranged by Terry Tao of the Creative Work Literary Agency. The books will be translated and published for the Chinese market in 2011.

31 May 2009

A small exhibition of my illustrations from the MiddleGate Books is being held at Skriðuklaustur near Egilsstaðir in East Iceland for the month of June. Pages from the books (with illustrations at the beginning of a chapter) are hanging beside the same image—larger and hand-coloured in rich pastels.

And the five Nordic prime ministers (Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland) will be visiting Skriðuklaustur as part of their itinerary for a meeting of Nordic countries in mid-June!

24 March 2009

Just what have I been up to over the last couple of months?!

1) I've been hard at work in the studio. The griffin above is in honour of an upcoming exhibition of my illustrations (in Iceland, summer 2009). Each illustration is hand-coloured and will hang beside the original page of the book in which it appears (in black and white).
2) And plans are underway for a studio course - It's a Bunny Eat Bunny World: Illustrating Children's Books. I'll be teaching this new course at the University of Manitoba School of Art over the summer. The title echoes that great book entitled It's A Bunny-Eat-Bunny World: A Writer's Guide to Surviving and Thriving in Today's Competitive Children's Book Market by Olga Litowinsky (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2001).
3) I'm hard at work on the fourth MiddleGate book! Lots more magical adventures for Sophie and Wil in this one.

5 February 2009
Ever wondered about a writer's life? About an illustrator's life? Now you can find out...

Number one. For everyone who has ever waited and waited (and waited) to find out whether their work is going to get published (or not), visit American illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka's website and enjoy his video short Page by Page: the making of a monkey boy. He's also posted a video about what it's like to go on a book tour. Check out The Punk Farm Book Tour with all its ups and downs!

Number two. If you've ever wondered what it's like to attend a children's writers' and illustrators' conference, this blow-by-blow blog by Alice Pope (writing from the SCBWI 10th Annual New York Conference, January 30 – February 1, 2009) will reveal all. [SCBWI stands for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, based in the U.S.]

Number three. Stephanie Cottrell Bryant shares how to how to build a magical fantasy world in her blog.

14 January 2009
Would you like to nominate Fish & Sphinx for an Aurora Award? (Or perhaps you know other books you'd like to nominate as well?)

Each year, the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association accepts nominations for the Prix Aurora Awards. To nominate, you must be a Canadian citizen (not necessarily living in Canada), or a permanent resident. (There is no fee to nominate.)

The online nominating period is from 1 January 2009 to 28 February 2009. At the end of this period, the short list (the five people or organizations receiving the highest number of nominations in each category) will be included on the voting ballot.

Fish & Sphinx is already listed in the Canadian SF Works Database for 2008 (SF stands for speculative fiction). All you have to do is fill out the Aurora form, if you feel so inspired! Choose the category Best Long-Form Work In English - 2008 and/or Artistic Achievement - 2008 (if you loved the books' illustrations!)

And remember I've posted a small film of the Fish & Sphinx illustrations here on my website—set to lovely brooding and eery music!

January 2009
Free Rice

Came across a nice site where you earn grains of rice for those who are hungry in the world, all while exercising your command of English vocabulary. (No charge to you.) FreeRice is associated with the United Nations World Food Program.

As practice for FreeRice, try your hand at the words below—especially since they could all speak about writing and the writer's life, in one way or another! (* Answers at the end, if you need help.)

[* Answers to meanings of words:
arcanum = b) secret; anchorite =
c) hermet; mogigraphia =
c) writer's cramp!]

22 December 2008
Just caught sight of a list of new book arrivals (dated 15 December 2008) for the National Library of Singapore---and The Serpent's Spell was on the list, at #44 of 848 new arrivals. Extraordinary to think about the MiddleGate Books having made their way to Singapore. Here's to public libraries!

25 November 2008
Hurray! The Kelly House---the portal to the secret, magical city of MiddleGate within Winnipeg's own Exchange District---was saved (for now) at this morning's public hearing at City Hall.The decision was NOT to de-list the building as a heritage building (and thus offer a smooth path to demolition and eventual parking lot). Many supporters attended and spoke passionately about the house and its important place in the history of Winnipeg. A stirring letter from members of the Kelly family was read---a letter with 45 signatures on it. And I spoke about how important the house is for its magical place in The MiddleGate Books. Notice of the public hearing featured on the front page of the Winnipeg Free Press this morning, with a wonderful photo and a great article. Read all about it...Literary landmark faces threat by journalist Joe Paraskevas, with photo by Phil Hossack. See also the update Kelly House survives - at least for now by CTV News (with CTV's video, Joe Olafson on saving Kelly house). M.R. Christian's blog entry today also offers up a spirited overview of the history of the Kelly House with images and many useful links. See also the Winnipeg Realtors site for a detailed history of the site and more about the Kelly brothers: Manitoba Legislative Building scandal — suspicious tendering process led to Kelly receiving project.

20 November 2008
The plight of Winnipeg's magical portal to MiddleGate (the old house at 88 Adelaide) attracted media attention in last week's Metro community newspaper. The hearing is set for 25 November at City Hall. Read all about it in Heritage House's History Includes Fact and Fiction by Avi Saper.

Other news...I returned a couple of weeks ago from the World Fantasy Conference held in Calgary this year. (For a copy of the programme, click here.) Was honoured to meet Australian illustrator Shaun Tan, whose work is witty, ironic, caustic, hopeful, scary all at once. His website is a delight to explore. (Shaun Tan's profile on Wikipedia is also packed with information.)

24 October 2008
DEMOLITION OF OUR MAGICAL PORTAL?

Read the FAQs page on this site, and you'll learn the magical portal to the world of MiddleGate is through Winnipeg's historic Kelly House. The building has been vacant for many years and is in sad need of repair. The owner appears to have lost interest in maintaining the house and it is slowly crumbling. As the building is privately owned, it's difficult to force the owner to take action, even though there is a Vacant and Derelict Buildings Bylaw on the books.

At a Public Hearing on 25 November 2008, Winnipeg's Historic Buildings Committee will apparently be recommending to the Planning and Property Development Committee that 88 Adelaide Street NOT BE DE-LISTED as a heritage building.

Will future generations of children be able to visit 88 Adelaide, the magical portal to MiddleGate—just as they now make the pilgrimage to J. K. Rowling’s Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross Station in London?

I, for one, would like to be able to say, "Yes!"

Members of the general public may attend the hearing and make a presentation...you can bet November 25th is in my datebook.

Historic Kelly House, 88 Adelaide, Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada)

Historic Kelly House, 88 Adelaide (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
- magical portal to MiddleGate -

13 October 2008
A fun tool for generating word clouds from text you provide yourself—Wordle designed by Jonathan Feinberg. The "clouds" highlight words appearing more often in source text. Different fonts, layouts and colours allow for experimental zing. Here's a poster designed from Fish and Sphinx's table of contents!

7 October 2008
The Cybils Awards nominations for the Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards are here! The Cybils team (some 100 bloggers!) highlights books sparkling with literary quality and kid appeal. No fees to enter and anyone can nominate titles in nine categories: Easy Readers, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Fiction Picture Books, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade Novels, Non-Fiction Middle Grade/Young Adult Books, Non-Fiction Picture Books, Poetry, Young Adult Novels. Nominated titles must be published between January 1st and October 15th of this year, and the books must be in English (or bilingual, where one of the languages is English). Visit the Cybils blog between now and the 15th to nominate a title.

28 August 2008
Such delight in returning to favourite old books time and again. And with each (re)reading comes different understanding. Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities is one of those books I have read over and over...then over again. Through the years, it has inspired several of my exhibitions of art quilts—intricately embroidered crazy quilts; it has also influenced profoundly my perceptions of cities (human settlements) and how people co-exist within them. In Calvino's slim volume, there takes place a mythical conversation between the young Venetian explorer Marco Polo (1254-1324) and the ruler Kublai Khan (1216-1294). Their conversation? Marco Polo regales the Great Khan with stories about the cities of his vast empire. Literally fantastic cities—sister cities of the dead buried deep beneath living cities, labyrinthine cities, mirrored cities, garbage cities, cities of pipes, cities on stilts (all identified by a female name). Seemingly magical cities, cities parallel to those we live in...hence, MiddleGate! Italo Calvino sparks obsession provides a great introduction to how the man's work has inspired others working in many, many disciplines. A book to keep close.

21 August 2008
You can hear my half-hour interview about Amber Ambrosia online with Suzanne Lieurance—Book Bites for Kids: Rae Bridgman is Today's Guest. You'll gain some insights into the inspiration for the MiddleGate Books and what one writer's life is like! Suzanne has a great set of interview questions for her guests. Tell us a little bit about your background. How did you become a children's book author? Tell us about your current book, your publisher and how you got the idea for this book. What's a typical writing day like for you? What do you enjoy most about writing for children? What's the most difficult part of writing for children? Tell us about the marketing process for authors. How do you promote your books? Do you make school visits? What are you working on right now? What's your best tip for aspiring children's book authors? Book Bites for Kids is an inspiring online radio show; host Suzanne Lieurance chats with different children's book authors several times a week.

11 August 2008
An admirable mission that will take a lifetime or more...vanquish sallow prose, sagging metaphors, wrinkled verbs, mouldy adjectives, anemic adverbs. I am returning once again to one of my favourite, favourite books, Spunk & Bite by Arthur Plotnik. (The title plays on the famous little writer's Bible, Strunk & White, otherwise known as Elements of Style). Read an excerpt: Writers' Words, Drops by Dottle.

Number One. Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer is one of those can't-put-me-down kind of children's books. The story of Jack's magical apprenticeship, fueled by Norse myths.

Number Two. Beyond Window-Dressing?: Canadian Children's Fantasy at the Millennium by K.V. Johansen arrived in yesterday's mail and I've just dipped into the introduction. She observes that fantasy was but a minor part of Canadian children's literature until the late eighties or nineties. Most children read British or American fantasy. Has the genre had time to mature since then, she asks? Good question. If the fact that there are now so many Canadian authors writing fantasy for kids is any kind of testimonial (see the 20 July entry below), there's lots to choose from. Johansen's little volume rises to the challenge: "the question of whether the fantasy now being published in Canada is good fantasy, capable of withstanding comparison to the best of Britain or the United States, has not been paid much attention" (p. 9).

30 June 2008
I've spent the last month or so scouring the web in my spare time for other Canadian fantasy writers for kids. There are now about 90 authors listed on my Resources page—to help spread the word. I've also had a lot of fun visiting children's and young adult literature blogdom—as witnessed by the new list of blogs entered on this page. These are my current favourites to watch.

23 June 2008
A really interesting story about a "fantastic collaboration" in The Globe and Mail today. Online collaboration lands young authors book deal: Victoria, New York writers took 18 days to pen 400-page fantasy novel Havemercy, then attracted attention of major publishing house, by Michael Langdon.

29 May 2008
Found out today that Fish and Sphinx has won an Honourable Mention from the Speculative Fiction Foundation! Here's what the letter said: "We are...delighted to inform you that your submission, Fish and Sphinx, has been selected as one of five Honorable Mentions for the 2008 Older Writer's Grant. We enjoyed your story very much, especially the sharp, polished prose and the sense of adventure you conveyed through Wil and Sophie's excitement and wonder."

12 May 2008
Many people and many snakes at the Narcisse snake dens yesterday! Free T-shirts were passed out by U-Haul International to commemorate the unveiling of their new snakes of Narcisse graphic. 1,450 Manitoba trucks will be driving across North America, showcasing the unique red-sided garter snakes. (Read more about U-Haul's Narcisse Snake Dens graphic.) There were two BBC film crews there working on one of the Planet Earth shows. And I had great fun giving out 25 free copies of The Serpent's Spell for the occasion---lots of the action in those books is, of course, inspired by the snakes of Narcisse.

4 May 2008
An exciting event upcoming...the official unveiling of U-Haul's latest community SuperGraphic, in concert with Manitoba Conservation—the graphic highlights the Narcisse snake dens. Sunday, May 11th, 2008 (Mother's Day), 2 p.m. at the dens.

22 April 2008
Fish and Sphinx well-launched at McNally Robinson Booksellers (Polo Park), Winnipeg today. Winnipeg's Town Crier Ed Humphrey (of Amusinc Entertainment) was in attendance to open the ceremonies. Long Live Children's Fantasy Books!

11 April 2008
What am I looking forward to reading? It arrived in the mail yesterday—The Promised One, by David Alric. The story of a girl, The Promised One, who can communicate with all the animals, whether they be "furry, scaly, shelled, finned, hoofed or winged." Just the cover alone is enough to entice, with snakes curling around the edges, and eagle, toucan, tortoise, parrot, alligator, porpoise and more splashed across a glowing globe of the world. (His second children's book, The Valley of the Ancients, is now out apparently also.) On another subject, film footage of an elephant painting a self-portrait just came to my attention yesterday too!

29 February 2008
Have just returned from a one-month retreat in East Iceland—where I must have accomplished six months' work in that one month! I was staying at Skriduklaustur (Skriðuklaustur). a residence near Egilsstadir (Egilsstaðir) for artists, writers and scholars, both Icelandic and foreign. The building includes a small apartment and workroom in the farmhouse mansion, which was built in 1939 by the famous Icelandic writer Gunnar Gunnarsson. He donated the land and its buildings to the Icelandic State in 1948. Three- to six-week residencies are offered throughout the year. I’ve posted a small album of several Skriduklaustur photos (PowerPoint file) so you can briefly enjoy Icelandic vistas. Poet K.I. Press has written a great article about her stay there.

20 February 2008
Became a JacketFlap member several days ago and have been enjoying networking with other children's and young adult authors and illustrators. This is an online community for everyone who's in the business of publishing kids' books. The site profiles the work of authors, illustrators, publishers, editors, librarians, reviewers... Very user-friendly. Simply a great resource.

10 January 2008
A nice tidbit of news to begin the year. The French edition of The Serpent's Spell is now out. <<Le sortilège du serpent>> has been published by Editions AdA. (It's available through Amazon.fr too.) Here's the description:

4 January 2008
A very fine review by Hilary Friesen, 100 Minutes with an Author, has just been published in the Writers' Collective bimonthly journal The Collective Consciousness. Thank you, Hilary.

December 2007
Great Plains Publications is publishing the third of the MiddleGate Books, Fish and Sphinx. It's due out in April 2008, so you won't have long to wait to find out what happens next in MiddleGate. And another good piece of news...agent Lise Henderson at Anne McDermid & Associates Ltd. is now representing my work.

End of October/beginning of November 2007
October and November were inspiring months as I got to attend Particles of Narrative: Language, Metaphor and Children’s Literature featuring British children’s author Philip Pullman and three Canadian Governor General’s Award winners, Tim Wynne-Jones, Sarah Ellis and Kenneth Oppel, as well as American Megan Whalen Turner, Newbery Honor winner. Friday, October 26 and Saturday, October 27, 2007, Trinity College at the University of Toronto. The following weekend I took in CANSCAIP's Packaging Your Imagination at Victoria College, University of Toronto, Saturday, November 3, 2007. O.R. Melling gave a stirring talk about her work and encouraged writers all.

9 October 2007
100 MINUTES WITH AN AUTHOR Gave a presentation at Winnipeg's Millennium Library (Carol Shields Auditorium) about the inspiration behind the MiddleGate books. The 100 MINUTES WITH AN AUTHOR series (co-sponsored by the Winnipeg Public Library and the Writers' Collective) is held four consecutive Tuesday nights in October each year. Four different authors read from their work and chat about the creative process.

August 2007
J.R.R. Tolkien's small but exquisite volume Tree and Leaf is a jewel. On Fairy-stories and Leaf by Niggle—one an essay, the other a story.

June 2007
June was a great month of adventures with a trip to Book Expo at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and a signing at the Manitoba Book Publishers booth Sunday, June 10th. Along with free copies of The Serpent's Spell and Amber Ambrosia, we gave away small jars of Manitoba's dark, fragrant buckwheat honey. In Amber Ambrosia, Wil and Sophie taste buckwheat honey for the first time. (You'll have to read the book to find out what they think of it...)

More amazing though was the Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) Children's Book Gala on the Saturday evening, with hundreds of authors, publishers, booksellers, agents, media folks, librarians, educators, marketing folks, reps from various organizations and others---in short, everyone who is part of the children's book industry in Canada...elbow to elbow, cheek by jowl.

But the Greatest Adventure of All was a two-week trip to Iceland to do research for the fourth of the MiddleGate Books—thanks to a Writer's Grant from the Manitoba Arts Council. (The third book was delivered to the publisher just before leaving for Iceland!) I was here...

19 April 2007
My original pen-and-ink illustrations from Amber Ambrosia are on display at Winnipeg's Millennium Library (near Children's Services) this week on through Manitoba Book Week (until the end of April).

20 March 2007
The Serpent's Spell is a finalist for the 2007 McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award (Young Adult). [The other books nominated include Out of Focus by Margaret Buffie (Kids Can Press), Lost Treasures: True Stories of Discovery by Larry Verstraete (Scholastic Canada) and Kanada by Eva Wiseman (Tundra Books).]

15 March 2007
French language rights have been sold for The Serpent's Spell. Editions AdA is best known for their acquisition and translation of best-selling self-help and spirituality titles. The company also translates a number of children’s books and young adult fantasy books – and now their list will include The Serpent’s Spell!

8 March 2007
I've started reading China Miéville's latest book, Un Lun Dun (an added bonus: it has fun pen-and-ink illustrations). And have you seen the inspiring (and humbling) site with bibliographies on over 10,000 authors writing speculative and fantastic books?

28 February 2007
I've received the page proofs for Amber Ambrosia. The designer has done a very elegant job with the text and the illustrations. Now to checking everything word by word, line by line, drawing by drawing, little by tittle... (New word for the day: The tiny dot over the letter i is called a “tittle.”) Writing on the next book continues apace; the illustrations are mostly done! And I just found an interesting article in Wikipedia about Canadian fantasy writers.

12 January 2007
Reading Imaginary Friends by Ursula Le Guin—Many of us have at least one book or tale that we read as a child and come back to now and then for the rest of our lives....

2 January 2007
Noticed The Serpent's Spell teaching guide and book launch reading are listed in TeachingBooks (a Madison, Wisconsin one-stop online, multimedia collection of resources for K-12 books). Interestingly, the TeachingBooks service offers a quick search specifically about *Canadian* authors. (They license full access to their website).

12 December 2006
Reading Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge. Her scrumptious similes and metaphors glisten. How can one resist passages like this one? "Above, the gulls spun and floated like tea leaves in a stirred cup. They followed each boat along the river, tearing off narrow strips of sound with their sharp beaks" (p. 31) Or this? "Everybody knew that books were dangerous. Read the wrong book, it was said, and the words crawled around your brain on black legs and drove you mad, wicked mad" (p. 12).

We've set a date for the book launch of Amber Ambrosia, the second of the MiddleGate books. Wednesday, 25 April 2007 at McNally Robinson Booksellers (Grant Park) in Winnipeg, during Manitoba Book Week. Almost one year to the day from the launch of The Serpent's Spell, and close to World Book Day (which is held 23 April each year).