lian goodall on the radio

Kettleby, Ontario writer Lian Goodall is experienced in writing the life stories of well-known people for younger readers. Her most recent work, PHOTOGRAPHING GREATNESS: THE STORY OF KARSH (Napoleon) follows the seventy plus year career of the world's finest portrait photographer. Lian will be on CKCU FM 93.1, Ottawa, this Thursday evening, January 31st, at 6:30 p.m.

PHOTOGRAPHING GREATNESS is a well-researched, attractive and informative biography. It includes examples of Yousuf's famous portraits, photos of the Karsh family, as well as a timeline for both the photographer's life and for his famous photographs. Readers of any age are directed to the Library and Archives website which has an alphabet of Karsh's photographs. Yousuf Karsh was, as author Lian Goodall notes, a humanitarian whose special focus was sick children.

Lian Goodall is an experienced children's book reviewer, who continues to teach creative writing. She has written several biographies for young readers, one of which, SINGING TOWARDS THE FUTURE: THE STORY OF PORTIA WHITE (Napoleon) was shortlisted for the Hackmatack Children's Choice Award in Atlantic Canada. It is also an Our Choice selection of the Canadian Children's Book Centre.

Yousuf Karsh spent many years in Ottawa and readers may be surprised to learn of some of his 'not so well-known' Ottawa interests. Tune into your community radio station, 93.1 FM this week and find out more from biographer Lian Goodall.

www.ckcufm.com

lian goodall creative writing course

There's still time to sign up for lian goodall's popular creative writing courses with the York Region District School Board Continuing Education. "Creative Writing: Children's Books" will be running again this semester, Monday nights from 7 pm to 9:30 beginning January 21, 2008. lian will also be offering a new course on Wednesday nights from 7 pm to 9:30 beginning January 23, 2008. The course is called "Writing the Past" and is designed to help those working on memoirs, creative non-fiction pieces or similar projects. Contact the YRDSB Continuing Education for more information of e-mail lian at lian_goodall@sympatico.ca.

Two Very Different Book Signings

lian goodall has had two very different book signings for her new book Photographing Greatness: The Story of Karsh.
December 8th was a lovely, sunny day in Fergus. A nice-sized crowd attended the signing at Roxanne's Reflections and enjoyed eating a piece of cake to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the photographer's birth.

December 16th was a blizzard! lian and baby Amzie made it to Nicholas Hoare bookstore in downtown Ottawa. The kind staff were there too, but few people were able to attend due to the treacherous conditions. Those that made it had stories to tell, as did some people who tried to make it!

lian will be hoping for great weather at the official launch of Photographing Greatness: The Story of Karsh which will be held on January 10 in Ottawa at Laurier House National Historic Site.In advance, lian would like to thank Parks Canada for hosting the event. She is sure it will be sunny!

lian goodall on the move!

Author lian goodall has been pretty busy. Her Fall 2007 "Creative Writing/Children's Book" course wound up with a get together. It was a great group and lian looks forward to teaching the same course in January in Newmarket for the York Region District School Board Continuing Education, as well as a new course called "Writing the Past."

Wednesday, December 5th lian goodall gave a presentation from her book, Portia White: Singing Towards the Future to Dale Matsushige's Choral Music class and some Writers' Craft students at Sir William Mullock High School. Shown in the photo are lian, her baby son Amzie and the wonderful music teacher Ms. Matsushige.

lian goodall's new book, Photographing Greatness: the Story of Karsh, is about to be launched and lian's dad is ready! The first book signing will take place at Roxanne's Reflections on St. Andrew Street in Fergus from 1 pm to 2:30 pm on Saturday, December 8, 2007. Free cake will be available in honour of Mr. Karsh's birthday month. lian will be signing at Nicholas Hoare on Sussex Drive in Ottawa on Sunday, December 16, 2007 from 2 to 3 pm. The book is dedicated to lian's father.

Mazo de la Roche

"The main inspiration for the bestselling Jalna novels of Mazo de la Roche was her own family tree," says Napoleon author, Heather Kirk, pictured here beside the black walnut tree in her own back yard. Kirk's recently released scholarly book, "Who Were the Whiteoaks and Where Was Jalna?" (Tecumseh Press), reveals new sources for the origins of the famous fictional Whiteoak family. Heather, who published a nonfiction book for teens about Mazo de la Roche last year, also writes novels for teens. "Warsaw Spring" and its sequel, "A Drop of Rain", were published by Napoleon. On October 16, 2007, Heather talked about her books to an audience of 200 people at the 18th annual Authors' Night of the Gryphon Theatre Guild in Barrie, Ontario.

more from lian goodall

lian goodall will be speaking about singer Portia White to the vocal music classes of Sir William Mulock High School in Newmarket on December 5, 2007. She's going to enjoy hearing their thoughts about Portia's development as a singer in the 1930s and '40s.

Peggy Dymond Leavey reading

Napoleon author Peggy Dymond Leavey will be reading at the Brighton Public Library on Thursday, December, 6th as part of a new monthly series called "Upstairs at the Library". She will be reading from "Treasure at Turtle Lake" and talking about books for children.

Whenever Holly Haggarty visits bookstores, libraries or schools to talk about her book, Summer Dragons, an impish dragon is often seen with her. Many readers wonder how Holly met this dragon. In fact, Holly met him in the boreal forest around Thunder Bay. Believing, like Beth, that dragons exist, Holly and her family had gone searching for dragons. They captured photos, which show how Holly met and befriended her dragon.

On October 10th, Brenda Chapman participated in a Capital Crime Writers panel discussing the mystery market. Pictured left to right are Michael Steinberg (Storyteller Magazine), Bev Panasky (author), Linda Wiken (owner, Prime Crime), Brenda and Rick Mofina (thriller author).

lian goodall on display!

lian goodall will have her work on display at the Schomberg Public Library as part of King Township's celebrations for Ontario Public Library Week, Oct 15-21, 2007. lian's new book, Photographing Greatness: The Story of Karsh, will be published as part of Napleon's Stories of Canada series just after the display closes. It will be represented by showing the manuscript at various stages so that library patrons can learn about some of the publishing processes.

Peggy Dymond Leavey

Napoleon author Peggy Dymond Leavey enjoys the company of some young fans after a summer 2007 reading at the Picton Public Library.

Day's Lee reading

Pictured: Napoleon author Day's Lee with a young fan (the lucky winner of a copy of The Fragrant Garden) after her reading on September 29th.

Holly Haggarty reads at Chapters

Holly Haggarty, author of Summer Dragons, appeared at Chapters, Thunder Bay, on Saturday September 29, along with a dragon, who roamed through the store all afternoon, beguiling young and old. Many customers successfully answered skill testing questions of dragon lore, which enabled them to search for dragon treasure. Holly enjoyed the opportunity to chat with many keen readers.

lian goodall hard at work!

New book! lian's newest book Photographing Greatness: The Story of Karsh in the Stories of Canada will soon be out. Here she is at work on the edits for the book with the assistance of her baby son, Amzie Cooke-Goodall, and Nelson the cat.

lian goodall update

It's back to class this September with Napoleon author lian goodall as teacher. Once again, goodall is leading a group of keen students taking Creative Writing/Children's Books with the York Region District School Board Continuing Education in Newmarket. We'll tickle our creativity and see what happens over the next eight weeks!

More from Heather Kirk

Heather Kirk, author of two novels for teens published by Napoleon, Warsaw Spring and A Drop of Rain, is scheduled to teach a course in creative writing at Georgian College on Monday evenings from September 17 to December 3, 2007. Heather is also offering a one-day seminar on writing for children at Georgian College on Saturday October 20, 2007. On October 16, 2007 Heather will be taking part in the 18th annual Authors' Night sponsored by the Gryphon Theatre Guild in Barrie, Ontario. This event, also featuring authors William Stevenson (Spy Mistress) and Karolyn Smardz Frost (I've Got a Home in Glory Land), will take place at the MacLaren Art Gallery in Barrie. Heather will be reading from her two latest books: Mazo de la Roche: Rich and Famous Writer (XYZ Publishing, 2006) and Who Were the Whiteoaks and Where Was Jalna? (Tecumseh Press, 2007). All Heather's books will be available for sale at this event. See Heather's website at www.heatherkirk.ca for more information about her books.

Holly Haggarty on the move ...

Holly Haggarty has been busy over the past few months touring Summer Dragons. Everywhere she goes, a summer dragon seems to appear, beguiling youngsters at libraries, bookstores and summer festivals.

New Karen Krossing events

Young Voices Writers Conference
Teens aged 12 to 19 are invited to join author Karen Krossing for an Editing Workshop at the Young Voices Writers Conference to be held at the North York Central Library in Toronto on Saturday, October 20, 2007. For more information go to Young Voices Writers Conference.

WordPlayer Writing Workshops
WordPlayers is a ten-week writing workshop for kids and teens held at Pegasus Studios in Toronto and led by author Karen Krossing. If you like writing poems or stories, come play with words using masks, story dice, photos, character games, and more. Classes start in September. For more information, go to Pegasus Studios.

Writing for Children Course at Centennial College
Do you want to write for children or teens? Join Karen Krossing on October 24, 2007, to learn how to generate ideas, develop believable characters, understand genres, edit your writing, and market and promote your work. For more info, go to Centennial College.

New Brenda Chapman events

International Plowing Match - Saturday, September 22nd
Brenda will be reading from Where Trouble Leads and will be appearing with authors Rick Mofina, Therese Greenwood and Maggie Wheeler between 12:00 and 1:00 p.m. The Plowing Match is held in Crosby Ontario from September 18th-22nd.

2007 Kids' Lit Gala - Ottawa Public Library Event - Tuesday, October 16th
Brenda will be one of ten guest authors and illustrators presenting at the seven annual gala to be held at Ben Franklin Place on Centrepointe Drive in Ottawa. The event begins at 7 p.m. All welcome.

New Holly Haggarty Events

Old-Fashioned Book Fun

Book signing -- Oxford Book Shop -- August 22

Drop by the Oxford Book Shop, 740 Richmond Street, London, on Wednesday August 22, 2-4 pm, to meet Holly Haggarty, who will be sharing stories, chatting, and reading from her latest novel, Summer Dragons.


Dragon Stories For Young and Old

Storytelling on Toronto's Centre Island -- August 26

Participate in a jousting of wits as Holly Haggarty entertains with dragon stories at Franklin Gardens, Centre Island on Sunday August 26, 2:30 p.m. Let author and storyteller, Holly Haggarty, prepare you for your inevitable encounter with SUMMER DRAGONS!