all my little words...CK's mono{b}logue

Across the Pond & Musings on NA

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Wed, 16 May 2012 06:07:00 +0000

I'm heading off to Ireland at the end of the week where I'll be largely without Internet and so won't be posting again until I'm back in June. Generally the Irish are just as addicted to the Internet as anyone but it happens that my in-laws are sans connection. To be honest, I think every year that we visit it gets a little harder for me to say goodbye to our free-flowing home Internet connection. It's begun to feel more and more like drinkable water, like something surely everyone has on tap which I realize is a pretty darn overprivileged sentiment because not everyone actually has constant access to things like clean water, Internet, or health care.

And yet here I am wondering how uncomfortable it will be to spend just over two weeks without ready access...that's not right on multiple levels. So, yeah, I think I need to start spending less time on the net. It's a world of information but then, so is the actual world!

Before I get busy packing and stuff I want to thank everyone who has expressed an interest in Come See About Me. It's going through copy-editing at the moment and I can't wait to get it out into the world. It's been very cool to see NA Alley, a blog devoted to New Adult fiction, spring up recently. A couple of days ago they posted a terrific entry explaining that the new adult category is a response to agents, editors and publishers who routinely turn down novels (or request aging characters up or down) with main characters deemed too young for adult but too old for YA.

It does seem that if we left the fate of books with twenty-year-old main characters solely in the hands of traditional publishing there would be precious few. So while I can understand people not warming up to the idea of an NA category because it may seem like pigeonholing, I think the pigeonholing has already happened around new adult fiction, leaving a gap. Can that gap be filled without putting a label on it when YA and adult fiction seem to already have been strictly defined to omit characters nineteen through their early twenties or would eschewing the label just mean those characters continue to be a rarity in traditional publishing?

In any case I'm happy to see writers taking matters into their own hands and releasing stories about young characters that neither fall under the heading of YA nor adult. Slán go fóill.

Royal Botanical Gardens

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Mon, 07 May 2012 00:20:00 +0000

It seems that most years around this time I mention that May's my favourite month (see May 8,2011 and May 1, 2009) and post a ton of pretty flower and tree photos to my blog. May is so gorgeous that I can't help myself; I go a bit ga-ga. This year I'm using Amy Black, my editor at Random House Canada, as an excuse because she recently said that she'd hope I'd snapped a few of the cherry blossoms just as they start to fall. So, Amy, the cherry blossoms here are for you!

Burlington's Royal Botanical Gardens' Rock Garden site is such a vision of loveliness these days and this past Saturday was a perfect day for tiptoeing through the tulips. I was sure the flowers pictured below were the finest thing I was going to see all weekend but, as it happened, today when I slipped out to join Paddy in the garden area of our condo, there was a fox stretched out on the lawn, savouring the sun. The fox didn't seem disturbed by our presence in the distance, but he did raise his head to eye a few noisy birds now and then before adjusting his position.

We could see several of our neighbours getting a kick out of the fox too, staring down at him with binoculars from their balconies. Though the condo is close to natural lands this is very much the burbs so a fox isn't something you see in your yard every day. At first I thought it must have been someone's dog! Alas, I have no photos of the fox, but if you're looking for pictures of some of May's blossoming treasures, this is a good place to be.

Having a bit of a sit down at the Rock Garden:

I'm afraid of bees but managed to stick my camera down here
next to this one for journalistic purposes.

So You Want to Read YA

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:05:00 +0000

Today I'm over at the Stacked Books blog sharing my picks for their "So you want to read YA?" series. Thanks, Kelly, for giving me the chance to rave about some of my favourite young adult books! Some of them you may have already heard about and/or read but there are way too many cool YA books out there that don't get the hype they deserve.

There's such a neat mixture of novels that have been mentioned so far in the series that you might want to catch up with earlier guest blog entries if you haven't had a chance to check them out yet:

Susan Adrian

Julie Cross

Janssen Bradshaw

Laura Arnold

Speaking of hype, I also want to point people toward author Tara Kelly's recent blog post on an Amplified Sequel. I'm a big fan of Tara's books and in this entry she makes excellent points that some readers may not be aware of, like how tough it can be for quiet/midlist-ish authors to get a publishing deal for their next novel and how important that makes it that readers are loud about the books they like. So if you love a book, particularly if it's one that's not raking in the cash, not one that you see mentioned one every second book blog or not one that's attracting Hollywood option offers, go public with your fondness for it.

Yesterday

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:45:00 +0000

Teaser trailer! Full trailer coming in August.

Come See About Me sample chapters

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 16:43:00 +0000

I just posted the first two chapters of Come See About Me here on my website and plan to have the ebook available for the end of June. One of the things I loved about writing this novel is that it's set where I live so I had the chance to explore some of Oakville's charms (not that the main character, who is in a fragile emotional state for much of the book, really notices them as such). But honestly, Oakville has pretty much spoiled me for other places. There are few things I love more than a walk by the lake and Oakville's compact downtown area is so charming that every time I'm strolling there it feels like a holiday. I mean, do places this cute exist in real life? Did I conjure this town up with my imagination? It feels that way sometimes.

Before 2000 I'd never even been to Oakville but in the late 90s a co-worker used to rave about the place (she lived here) and when my husband and I moved back to Canada at the start of the 21st century we gravitated here. Anyway, main character twenty-year-old Leah Fischer (from Burnaby, British Columbia) moves to Oakville in 2012. Late June, to be exact. The move's not really a choice on her part but after her boyfriend Bastien has died and she's flunked out of college and pretty much stopped functioning Bastien's aunt offers her a rent-free place to stay—a soft place to fall.

You can find out a bit more about Come See About Me here and if you read the sample chapters you'll notice there are some brief Liam sightings in Chapter One but it's awhile before Leah's in the headspace to really notice him and even when she does...well, it's infinitely complicated. Grief isn't linear. Relationships aren't linear.

If you've read any of my YA books you've probably noticed that I like writing about gray areas but I do think there's alot of light in this book too and I thoroughly enjoyed writing about a character who, though still quite young, doesn't fit in the YA category. Like I talked about a few weeks ago, I wish traditional publishers would release more books about characters in their late teens and early twenties. I don't think readers interest in young characters ends when they turn nineteen or finish high school. However, it's great to be writing in a time when you can bring a story to readers without depending on traditional channels and if traditional publishers continue to avoid books about 'new adults' I have high hopes that the void will be filled by other means!

Rock the Drop

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 18:46:00 +0000

In honour of Support Teen Lit Day I left some signed copies of my books around the town of Oakville to ROCK THE DROP. I Know It's Over is at the bus station, waiting to catch a bus.

One Lonely Degree's hanging out in the sun at Lakeside Park (incidentally, this is the park—a stone's throw from Lake Ontario—where I envisioned Nick Severson watching the little girl with the English accent).

The Lighter Side of Life and Death's lounging around on a bench outside the public library. You'll notice from the next picture that the library is in the middle of a book sale so I'll be going back later to pick up more books (only $1.25/lb, what a steal)!

Luckily it's a gorgeous spring day out there, the kind where books can bask outside for hours with no fear of rain and the kind that usually makes me reach for my camera. Today's no exception and I couldn't resist the budding greenery

and the most glorious tree that I'll likely see all day. An apple blossom that smelled like heaven and sprinkled me with confetti-sized blossom bits as I passed under it.

Happy Reading and Happy Spring!

Inspirational CanCon

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:24:00 +0000

I'm planning to post the first two chapters of Come See About Me up on my website in mid-April, with an e-book release date late in June. In the meantime there are several YA books I can't really talk about, in various stages of evolution—some ready to be submitted, one in an evaluation stage and yet another that's just a seedling at the moment (which means I've been working on it, but so far only in my head). At this point I'm wrestling with the seedling book nearly nonstop, except during the rare moments when my attention is being entirely directed elsewhere.

Twice during the last few days the seedling book has been forced out of my mind by exposure to other art. Specifically, terrific Canadian art. On Sunday I saw the French Canadian film that swept the Genies last month: Monsieur Lazhar.

The most emotionally intense moments of the film don't appear in the trailer but when they occur they're filled with a stunning amount of depth, warmth and truthfulness. In my opinion there's not one false note in the film and the two child actors with the largest parts offer breathtakingly subtle performances. Hands down this is the best movie I've seen since 2006's Children of Men. Please, please check it out if you haven't seen it. I know it's out on DVD now (not sure about Netflix because I don't have it) and if you're in Toronto, tonight is Monsieur Lazhar's final night at the Lightbox.

I was also lucky enough to get tickets to Our Lady Peace's sold-out gig at the Phoenix last night. Read a full review (and check out the setlist) at Canoe. It's such a treat to see an iconic Canadian rockband like OLP in an intimate club setting like the Phoenix. The crowd were pumped, the band was stellar and the show was a perfect blend of classics and material from the new album, Curve (which was released only yesterday), that left me dying to pick up the new CD. It's tough to pick a favourite song rendition from such a fantastic show but I have to go with 4AM.

I'm just sorry that the gig is over and that I'm not there now. Not that I don't want to hang out with seedling book some more but the breaks, and the inspiration are much appreciated!

New Adult Fiction: Come See About Me

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 01:04:00 +0000

In July 2010 I finished my first non-YA book, Come See About Me. The main character, Leah, is twenty for most of the novel and when the story begins she's in the throes of grief for the boyfriend she believes was the love of her life. Leah is from British Columbia but had been attending university in Toronto where she'd been sharing an apartment with boyfriend, Bastien. When Bastien doesn't come home one night, and the police show up instead, Leah goes into a state of collapse. Nothing matters—not her part-time job, her friends, her education. Even paying the rent doesn't feel like motivation enough to get up in the mornings. Leah's worried parents want her to come home to British Columbia, but Leah won't budge.

I'll briefly let Leah explain her feelings about cutting herself off:

"Alone is what's easier. Everyone else would prefer that I pretend my life hasn't been hollowed out. They believe their expectations should carry some weight with me. Only Bastien truly carries any weight and people try to use that fact against me too and tell me what he would want for me. Some of the things they say about that might be right but since he's not here
he doesn't get to decide how I should handle his absence."

Lucky for Leah, Bastien's aunt swoops in and saves her by providing a rent-free place to stay in a nearby suburban town. There Leah hides out from life, immersing herself in memories, until a connection with local people (including a magnetic but troubled Irish actor named Liam) and a second shocking event begin to draw her back into the present. Soon Leah's falling into a casual sexual relationship, even as she continues to yearn for her dead boyfriend.

When I began writing Come See About Me I knew Leah was too old for YA and thought of the novel as an adult one because what else could it possibly be? It never seriously occurred to me that having a twenty-year-old main character could make a book a hard sell but even if it had, that certainly wouldn't have stopped me from writing it.

In October 2010 Come See About Me went out on a round of submissions which, unfortunately, nothing came of. A couple of months later the manuscript was sent out on a second round of submissions to American publishers. By then a distinct pattern in editor responses had emerged. To quote the New York agent who believed in Come See About Me and who had kindly submitted the manuscript for me: "Almost every editor was concerned that Leah is too young for this to be 'adult, but too grown for this to go back to being 'YA.'"

It feels wrong to me that there's no room for a book about a twenty-year-old in the publishing market. How can that possibly be the case? It leaves certain perspectives and life-altering experiences very much under-explored. Do readers of various ages honestly embrace books about teenagers and characters in their later twenties or older but have no interest in stories involving people who fall in-between those ages? That makes no sense to me and, frankly, I don't believe it. Just because traditional
publishing hasn't figured out how to market these stories, doesn't mean there is no market. Furthermore, I didn't want to make Leah's story one that would fit under the YA heading. As a twenty-year-old Leah has more independence than most teenagers, and a couple of extra years of experience behind her which make her a different person than she would've been at seventeen or eighteen. Changing Leah's age would change virtually every aspect of Come See About Me, make it into something very different than what it currently is, which is the story of a twenty-year-old (not a thirty-year-old or a seventeen-year-old) who is struggling with enormous personal loss but who, despite this, finds herself physically drawn to someone else.

In recent years you may have read Internet discussions about something called 'new adult fiction':

* From the Write Angle: In Support of New Adult Fiction

* Reclusive Bibliophile: December: "New Adult" Month

* Cally Jackson Writes: New Adult fiction - the missing genre?

* And back in 09 St. Martin's Press even had a new adult fiction contest

New adult fiction basically focuses on the distinct stage of life psychology professor Jeffrey Jensen Arnett first termed "emerging adulthood" in 1998. It's a period of life stretching from 18 - 25 (but can even extend all the way up to 29). You can read more about the concept of emerging adult in this 2010 New York Times magazine article as well as the following blog entry: History of Emerging Adulthood.

I sincerely hope traditional publishers will come to embrace books that centre on this in-between age, but in the meantime I've decided to let Come See About Me remain the story that I intended to be and take advantage of the ebook medium by releasing it for myself. You can call it a new adult or emerging adult book or post-YA or whatever you like but the main thing is that it's about this twenty-year-old woman named Leah, her loss, her love life and the people who care about her and the people she cares about in return. If that sounds like something you'd be interested in I hope you'll check it out.

I haven't pinpointed a release date yet but am planning to have it ready sometime towards the end of June and will post the first chapter sooner. Here's the trailer, fresh from my computer:

Happy Spring! Stay Tuned...

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:48:00 +0000

With so many recent days that have seemed more like May than March it feels as if it's been spring for awhile already. But nope, we just celebrated St. Patrick's Day this past weekend and spring has only freshly arrived. The annual Paddy's Day dinner at my aunt's place was absolutely lovely and, happily, we'll be in back in Ireland itself for another visit in May.

Before we go I hope to post some information about an ebook I'll be releasing this summer. Since the main character is twenty technically it's not YA which makes it my very first non-YA book (unless we count the Choose Your Own Adventure book I wrote at eighteen). I can't wait to tell you about it!

Sunny Days & An Invasion Request

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:13:00 +0000

Yesterday we went to the beach, sat on the sand and watched the waves. It was a little windy walking along the promenade but down on the beach it was perfect. Sublime really. I took off my shoes and socks and buried my feet in the sand.

And the date was March 11th which still seems unbelievable (the warmest March 11th since 1977). If I've ever sat on the beach in March I don't remember it. Everyone was out with their dogs, their kids or their significant others, eating ice cream and smiling out from behind their sunglasses because, yep, it looks like we killed winter this year. A heady, scary thing. I don't like winter much myself and am as happy for the warm temperatures as anyone, yet I don't wish winter permanently dead because of what that would signify. Global warming — we're cooking ourselves.

An article in The Toronto Star last week cited research that showed "significant shortening" of the outdoor skating season across Canada. One of the co-authors of the study mentioned that Wayne Gretzky had learned to skate on a backyard rink and said that based on the research, it's highly possible "within four decades there will be very little to no outdoor natural skating in Canada with the exception of Winnipeg."

Linking the nation's obsession with hockey to the battle against climate change is a smart move, I think. Many of us in this country seem absurdly resistant to change. It's as though we believe (in ostrich-like fashion) that our natural resources are limitless and our reckless plundering of them can go on forever without any change of strategy (screw the animals, the trees and the bleeding heart environmentalists!). But hey, any suggestion that we may be forced to learn to skate indoors no doubt sets off alarm bells across our once frosty nation. So what do we do when our unwillingness to change in one area is directly countered by our unwillingness to change in another? Will we stop functioning entirely like those old Star Trek robots that couldn't hold two opposing ideas in their heads without short circuiting?

If so, I hope some more environmentally friendly country can come in and take charge. I'm looking at you Iceland, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Sweden and Norway! You can even install your own government here, if you like, as a significant percentage of us have already given up on democracy and won't mind, even when we snap out of our stupor. Like Wayne Gretzky, I learned to skate on a backyard rink (which my dad used to flood every year) so I think that qualifies me to issue the invitation.

And while you're at it, Iceland, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Sweden and Norway, you might want to set up some housing for what will be the former Conservative government in the middle of Alberta Tar Sands ground. Those folks love themselves some dirty oil and you'll be able to keep an eye on them there and prevent them from being a danger to others. Of course, you'll have to haul away the equipment first because their temptation to use it seems rather strong.

My Beating Teenage Heart News & Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:56:00 +0000

I'm absolutely thrilled, stunned and honoured (with a "u" Canadian style!) to report that My Beating Teenage Heart has been shortlisted for the Canadian Library Association’s Young Adult Book Award. Here's the entire list of finalists:

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong (Random House)

All Good Children by Catherine Austen (Orca)

Fanatics by William Bell (Random House)

The Woefield Poultry Collective by Susan Juby (HarperCollins)

Once Every Never by Lesley Livingston (Penguin Canada)

My Beating Teenage Heart by C.K. Kelly Martin (Random House)

The Town that Drowned by Riel Nason (Goose Lane)

This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel (HarperCollins)

Karma by Cathy Ostlere (Penguin Canada)

Held by Edeet Ravel (Annick)

Now I understand what people mean when they say they're happy just to be nominated. It's huge just to make that amazing list and I couldn't be more pleased. Congrats to every one of those fantastic authors on this shortlist with me!

And if you're a Canadian resident who would like to win a signed copy of My Beating Teenage Heart head on over to the Musings of a YA Reader blog to enter the contest. There's also an interview with me up as part of their Charming Canucks series which you'll want to check back in on for more Canadiana!

My Beating Teenage Heart Paperback

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:24:00 +0000

I know I've already posted this image on the front page of my website but I feel like I should give it a proper moment in the sun so here we go. My Beating Teenage Heart's next incarnation, as a paperback, will look like this when it hits shelves in late September:

I liked the mysterious way Ashlyn looked in the hardcover but this is cool in a different way (while still being ethereal) and makes me think of the Moby song We Are All Made of Stars, which in turn makes me think of Finn Kavanagh from One Lonely Degree since she listens to it in Chapter 9. Yes, it's weird being a writer. Songs and places can remind you of fictional people!

The great Mic Christopher's ruminations on his relationship to his songs in Skylarkin' aptly describe my feelings about my books:

“...my songs don't know that I exist
And though I give them life it is
A friendship that will never grow
My songs are friends I'll never know”

And with that I'm going to disappear for awhile again. Now that I'm about 80% free from a winter cold (although how I could catch a winter cold when there's barely been a winter, I don't know) there's a certain manuscript I've been obsessing about in my thoughts that I need to get back to. I can't say much about it at the moment, but here's a snippet from page two:

“Maybe none of that sounds earth-shattering, but it was to me. His voice. His fingers on the guitar. His perfect wrists. The intensity with which he loved music, as though it was something sacred. Every time he walked into a room he made it feel like a more interesting place. What could be bigger than that?”

Yep, this one is a love story through and through. To quote my favourite play, Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love, “Here's to love, in all its many forms.”

Valentine's Day is Over

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:05:00 +0000

Yes, I've stolen the title of a Billy Bragg track for my heading here. Any excuse to mention Billy Bragg! I haven't been to a Bragg gig since 2009 (the last time he was in Toronto) and find myself very much in withdrawal lately. So before I really get started pull up a chair and enjoy some Billy Bragg philosophy & music with me:

Young Bill on The Tube singing A New England in 1983

Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards with 2011 Lyrics

Interview and music clips from the Rapido show in the early 90s (sadly his comment on "the failure of capitalism to deliver the fruits of society to the majority of people" is ever more relevant)

Three of the greats—Michael Stipe, Natalie Merchant & Billy Bragg—perform Hello in There by American country/folk singer-songwriter John Prine back in 1990

Valentine's Day is Over

You'll notice, if the song Valentine's Day is Over is new to you, that Billy's singing it from the point of view of a survivor of domestic violence.

If you want to talk about it well you know where the phone is/
Don't come round reminding me again how brittle bone is

Thank you for the things you bought me thank you for the card/
Thank you for the things you taught me when you hit me hard/
That love between two people must be based on understanding/
Until that's true you'll find your things/
All stacked out on the landing, surprise, surprise

Clearly this is not a love song in the traditional sense, although it is very much a song about self-worth. I have to wonder if the girls and women who were tweeting things along the lines of I'd let Chris Brown beat me any day in the run-up to the Grammy's would get that or if domestic violence is just a joke to them? Because I remember those pictures of Rihanna after Chris Brown punched her in the face and to me there's nothing funny about that, or about being willing to swallow toxic cultural messages that say if you're powerful and rich enough (not to mention male) you can treat women however you want and still get invited to play at the Grammy's.

A brief reminder, in the form of a police statement, of the abuse Chris Brown committed against Rihanna:

A verbal argument ensued and Brown pulled the vehicle over on an unknown street, reached over Robyn F. with his right hand, opened the car door and attempted to force her out. Brown was unable to force Robyn F. out of the vehicle because she was wearing a seat belt. When he could not force her to exit, he took his right hand and shoved her head against he passenger window of the vehicle, causing an approximate one-inch raised circular contusion.

"Robyn F. turned to face Brown and he punched her in the left eye with his right hand. He then drove away in the vehicle and continued to punch her in the face with his right hand while steering the vehicle with his left hand. The assault caused Robyn F.'s mouth to fill with blood and blood to splatter all over her clothing and the interior of the vehicle.

"Brown looked at Robyn F. and stated, 'I'm going to beat the sh-- out of you when we get home! You wait and see!' "

This is what you're saying you're cool with, girls. And what the Grammy's is saying they're cool with.

Of course there were also people who were extremely upset about Chris Brown being invited to perform at the Grammy's:

"It is absolutely unacceptable that someone who is known to have perpetuated violence against a woman has been so uncritically welcomed and promoted by the music industry."

—Feministing

"Chris Brown twice? I don't get it. He beat on a girl ... Not cool that we act like that didn't happen."

—Country Star Miranda Lambert

“We – the grown-up influencers in this country, the people with platforms and with educations and with power – are allowing a clear message to be sent to women: We will easily forgive a person who victimises you. We are able to look beyond the fact that you were treated as less than human, that a bigger, stronger person decided to resolve a conflict with you through violence. We know it happened, but it’s just not that big of a deal to us”.

—Sasha Pasulka, 'I'm not okay with Chris Brown performing at the Grammys and I'm not sure why you are'

"All along, the business, Brown himself and just about every celebrity who's had anything to say about Rihanna and Chris Brown have treated the assault as a private domestic matter - or even, most creepily, as just one dark element of a star-crossed romance. The outright condemnations have been few. When it comes to partner assault - and when it comes to attitudes about women in general - big parts of the music industry seems to lag the rest of North American society by at least a half a century."
—Vancouver Sun

However, seemingly there were not enough irate people to convince the Grammy's Chris Brown had no place on their stage. I didn't watch the awards but I understand he was "welcomed with wild applause and a standing ovation."

I thank the people who publicly voiced their opposition to Chris Brown playing at the Grammy's, but if we want to reach a pointed where something like this doesn't happen again, and where our culture quits producing young women who say they're willing to be punched bloody by a celebrity, and where one in four women isn't physically abused in her lifetime, those of us—both male and female—who see domestic violence for the evil that it is and not something to be joked about or ignored, need to make a hell of a lot more noise. Speak up for your daughters, your friends, your sister, yourself. Valentine's Day is over.

The Dizzy Dancing Way You Feel

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:02:00 +0000

Happy Groundhog Day! Apparently, Punxsutawney Phil has predicted another six weeks of winter but because so much of this winter thus far has felt distinctly April-like up here I can't really complain. Let winter roar or whisper, whichever it feels inclined to do I'm okay with at this point. Six weeks isn't long.

Since I last posted on the blog a synopsis for Yesterday has appeared on the Random House site so I've also added it here. I always find it both exciting and nerve-racking when the book I've been working on in my den begins to step out into the world. I want to show it off but shield it from danger and inclement weather at the same time. Yes, I am nothing if not conflicted!

Interestingly, I feel less protective the longer a book has been out there. So I don't worry about my first three books so much anymore (they're all grown up!) but I still feel protective of My Beating Teenage Heart. By the way, I found out that I Know It's Over made The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books February 2012 bulletin titled “Down and Dumped: A Heartbroken Dozen.” It's a Valentine's Day list for people looking to read about heartbroken protagonists and I Know It's Over is on there with lots of other great YA novels like The Boyfriend List, Audrey, Wait and Other Words for Love.

I also happen to be writing a book about love right now so I'm feeling by turns elated and raw. It's a total rollercoaster ride and there are a couple of lines from the Sam Roberts song Without A Map which sum up what I want this book to be:

“I surrender to the very mention of you/I hope I get to see you again.”

So in a way Sam Roberts is helping me write this book. And with that kind of help, I cannot fail!

Yesterday Cover & News

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:43:00 +0000

Someone told me this was up on Publishers Marketplace so it's official: Thai rights for Yesterday have sold to Sanskrit Books! Yaaaay.

It's been a good few months since I first saw the U.S. cover and I've been dying to share ever since. But you know how these things are, top secret until you get the go ahead to share! Now that the cover for Yesterday is up on the Random House site and Amazon.com it's not a secret anymore and I couldn't be more thrilled to post the cover for my next book, due out September 25th.

Since there's no description up along with it I'm afraid I'll have to refrain from blabbing about the book much, but I will say it's set partially in 1985 and there are sci-fi elements. Sci-fi elements and references to The Smiths in the same book! Yes, I have indulged myself a wee bit and I would love to tell you more but for now my lips aresealed.

My Beating Teenage Heart & Yesterday

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:13:00 +0000

By now most of you have probably seen The Joy of Books video that bookstore Type (883 Queen Street West) recently created and posted to YouTube. It's an absolutely magical video that you really should watch if you haven't already. However, I can't say the delightful activities captured at Type Books surprise me because I never doubted books (in their superior physical form!) have lives of their own and must admit I have a habit of anthropomorphizing fiction especially.

For instance, just a couple of days ago I discovered the paperback of My Beating Teenage Heart is being released on the same autumn day as my upcoming YA novel, Yesterday: September 25th. To me, this feels like a very happy thing as My Beating Teenage Heart can act as moral support for Yesterday and show it the ropes. The two books can make their way out into the world together, maybe even have some secret adventures and take some road trips out west or something.

I'm hoping I can show off both their covers soonish (My Beating Teenage Heart will be getting a brand new cover for the paperback) and tell you a little bit about Yesterday but for now it's top secret. Well, except for the facts from the Random House site which state the book is 368 pages and falls under the category Juvenile Fiction - Science Fiction. Although Borders in Australia has it listed under the category of historical fiction so who knows, right now the book could be about practically anything! Maybe it's a Paul McCartney bio or a cookbook full of classic Irish recipes? Or a book about Paul McCartney's favourite classic Irish recipes? Or even a futuristic novel centering on a robot revolution and how said robots have been inspired by Paul McCartney's career? In time all will be revealed...

A 1939 Motto for 2012

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:06:00 +0000

Months back a writer friend sent me a link to Margaret Atwood's insightful TED talk on the future of publishing, "The Publishing Pie: An Author's View." The part that resonated the most deeply with me begins at the 2:16 mark where Atwood, reflecting on acute changes to the industry remarks, "We have heard a certain amount of panic and my first message to you is, don't panic because if you do panic and run away they will think you're prey."

To me, this seems to be solid advice in any number of situations: Don't panic because you'll look like prey.

When my first book was accepted for publication in 2006 the publishing environment was very different than it is today, only a few short years later. The rise in popularity of e-books has significantly changed the publishing landscape. For one thing, there's tons more piracy (and most writers make very little money to begin with so that's extremely bad news). A 2011 poll of French readers found that 27% of ebook readers reported that they got their content from pirate sites. Another 2011 Digital Entertainment Survey showed the "advent of eBook readers has increased illegal downloading activity across the board: 29 per cent of eReader and 36 per cent of tablet owners of all ages, both male and female, admit piracy."

To be honest, I have trouble understanding some readers' willingness to download (and even post) pirated copy of books. It doesn't take much insight to realize that if you don't financially support books there'll be less choice in reading materials in the future. Worried publishers, seeing diminishing returns for many, many books, will award less contracts and writers that aren't perceived to be writing the next Hunger Games or The Help will be out of luck. Some may self-publish (with varying degrees of success and still facing piracy in that arena) and some, in time, may be forced to stop writing almost entirely, bruised by financial realities—the need to feed themselves and their families. Surely if you're a reader, you'd want a certain diversity and depth of reading material to be available to you in the future. You'd think, right? But it seems that a significant percentage of readers are woefully short-sighted on this point.

Piracy aside, this is the year that Borders disappeared from the United States, leaving a single big national bookstore chain in place, Barnes and Noble. Even before Borders went bankrupt Barnes and Noble had way too much power— influencing book covers, titles and sometimes even the content of books. But now if Barnes and Noble decide not to stock your book it's a bigger concern for writers than ever. There may not be an indie store around for miles and they just don't get the traffic that Barnes and Noble do (if you have the chance, please give indie bookstores all the traffic you can!). At times it may in fact be easier for readers to find pirated copies of your book online than physical copies of your novel on bookstore shelves (head slap!).

Too, when my first book, I Know It's Over, was released contemporary young adult books were in much greater demand than they are now. These days, while there are still some contemporary YA books kicking around at Barnes and Noble, their shelf and table space is puny compared to that awarded to more escapist fare—paranormal, fantasy and dystopian fiction for teens. Not that I have anything against books that offer an escape from reality but I do have a problem with those books being supported by publishers and chain booksellers to the exclusion of almost anything else.

And this is the place I find myself at the end of 2011, a writer who wants to continue to pen books for young people (realistic contemporary books mainly but other things too. A little of this, a little of that, whatever inspires me at a particular time) despite not having any hit novels to my name at a time when the industry feels like it's standing at the edge of a hill, beginning to cascade down the side like a runny egg.

A writer could get very nervous thinking about it all and then there's the shaky state of the economy in general and the fear that every year we delay getting serious about combatting climate change puts our collective future in greater jeopardy. There's alot to worry about for all of us, no question, but the act of worrying isn't actually helpful in the least so in 2012 I'm adopting a WWII slogan Britain's Ministry of Information came up with way back in 1939. Given the anxiety of the current times it's easy to see why it's become popular again.

I don't normally make New Year's resolutions and I'm not even sure this is one exactly but in 2012 I plan to take Margaret Atwood's and the British Ministry of Information's advice. I'm not sure what the publishing industry has in store for me, or any of my fellow writers this year—or what the slippery global economy has in store for any of us either—but soldier on with me, folks. We'll have to get more creative in working around our problems than we've had to be in the recent past. Much more, I imagine. But we can do that. Our species happens to be quite talented at adapting once we put our minds to it.

Keep calm and carry on.

Favourite Rock Fiction

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 07:59:00 +0000

The Christmas holidays may be a great time for turkey, plum pudding and sledding (if you have the weather for it), but one of the other things I love about the season is the feeling, after the main festivities are over with, that it's okay to slow down and smell the roses or, er, the snowflakes. I haven't been doing any writing during the past few days but I've been doing a heck of a lot of movie watching (including the adventures of my childhood hero Tintin!) and reading. One of the novels I devoured over the holidays is Amplified by Tara Kelly, which I'd been especially looking forward to tackling because I have a big ol' crush on rock fiction. Now I can officially say I have a big ol' crush on Amplified too. Main character Jasmine Kiss is an awesome guitarist, one hell of a strong girl and one hell of a mess too. Delicious drama with a hard rock edge.

Reading Amplified prompted me to put together this list of my favourite rock fiction. It was originally intended to be a top ten list but I couldn't decide which of the Superchick trilogy novels should make the list and even if I just named one, that would've left me with a top eleven list. Most of the below descriptions are the publisher's (because I'm lazy at this time of year and have a bad memory at the best of times) but they're all fantastic, highly enjoyable books, some of them YA and some of them adult. I consider them all perfect examples of crossover books, ones that would appeal equally to older teen and adult readers.

TOP 13

Amplified (by Tara Kelly, 2011)
When privileged 17-year-old Jasmine gets kicked out of her house, she takes what is left of her savings and flees to Santa Cruz to pursue her dream of becoming a musician. Jasmine finds the ideal room in an oceanfront house, but she needs to convince the three guys living there that she's the perfect roommate and lead guitarist for their band, C-Side. Too bad she has major stage fright and the cute bassist doesn't think a spoiled girl from over the hill can hack it. . . .

Chartbreak (also known as Chartbreaker, by Gillian Cross, 1987)
When Janis Finch storms out of a family row, it starts a chain of events which transforms her whole life. For it's in the motorway cafe, minutes later, that she meets the unknown rock band, Kelp, who talk her into coming to their gig that night. Janis goes along for the ride and finds herself increasingly provoked by Christie, Kelp's arrogant lead singer. He pushes her into singing with them, and winds her up into a fever of rage, awe, and attraction. So when Christie asks her to join the band, Janis feels powerless to refuse—and her life explodes.

The Commitments (by Roddy Doyle, 1987)
Barrytown, Dublin, has something to sing about. The Commitments are spreading the gospel of the soul. Ably managed by Jimmy Rabitte, brilliantly coached by Joel 'The Lips' Fagan, their twin assault on Motown and Barrytown takes them by leaps and bounds from Paris Hall to immortality on vinyl. But can The Commitments live up to their name?

The Exes (by Pagan Kennedy, 1998)
A hip and hilarious tour of the world of rock 'n' roll. The Exes, an up-and-coming indie band, is made up of people who used to be lovers. Progressing from jam sessions in a basement to second-rate clubs to a cross-country tour that requires them to share seedy hotel rooms—with their exes—the four band members reveal their quirks, their problems, and their fantasies in alternating narratives.

Girl (by Blake Nelson, 1994)
Meet Andrea Marr, straight-A high school student, thrift-store addict, and princess of the downtown music scene. Andrea is about to experience her first love, first time, and first step outside the comfort zone of high school, with the help of indie rock band The Color Green. *There's also a sequel called Dream School which came out on December 6th.

Guitar Girl (by Sarra Manning, 2003)
Seventeen-year-old Molly Montgomery never planned on becoming famous. Molly's band, The Hormones, was just supposed to be about mucking around with her best mates, Jane and Tara, and having fun. But when the deliciously dangerous Dean and his friend T join the band, things start happening fast. Soon The Hormones are front-page news, and their debut album is rocketing up the charts. Molly is the force behind the band, but the hazards of fame, first love, screaming fans, and sleazy managers are forcing the newly crowned teen queen of grrl angst close to the edge. Fame never comes for free, and Molly's about to find out what it costs.

High Fidelity (by Nick Hornby, 1995)
Pop music junkie and record store owner Rob finds that his myriad diversions after the breakup with his longtime girlfriend are not as entertaining as he thought they would be. This international bestseller was Nick Hornby's first novel.

Live By Request (by Rob Payne, 2002)
On paper, Jay Thompson is a 26-year-old bartender going nowhere. But his burning desire is to be a working musician, or failing that, a working songwriter. Together in pursuit of the dream is his band, Archangel: Tyler, headstrong composer of the experimental rock opera "Space Oddity"; Jan, the sassy bass player and object of Jay's affection; and Noel, the Gap-wearing, scissor-kicking guitar player, who spends his days labouring in the corporate world. Set on the Canada-US border, Live By Request follows the exploits of a band on the run from bscurity, boredom, and sometimes, even themselves.

Rock Star Superstar (by Blake Nelson, 2004)
Music is Pete’s life. He’s happiest when playing his Fender P-Bass. He doesn’t care about prestige or getting girls; it’s the quality of the music that matters. Then he meets the Carlisle brothers. They can’t sing and they can barely play, but somehow they have a following. Pete can’t resist, and he joins The Tiny Masters of Today. When the band gets a chance at real stardom, Pete wonders if he’s ready. He knows the music should come first . . . but who knew selling out could be so much fun?

Superchick (2004), Rock and a Hard Place (2006), Ride On (by Stephen J. Martin, 2008)
The Superchick trilogy follows Jimmy Collins' journey from Dublin middle manager to full-blown rockstar along with his perpetually randy bandmate Aesop. All three novels absolutely bleed Irish sensibility which is a big part of their charm. I keep hoping some talented filmmaker will get them onto the screen and give these books the exposure they deserve.

Vinyl Princess (by Yvonne Prinz, 2009)
Summer's here, and 16-year-old Allie, a self-professed music geek, is exactly where she wants to be: working full-time at Berkeley’s ultra-cool Bob and Bob Records. There, Allie can spend her days bantering with the street people, talking the talk with the staff, shepherding the uncool bridge-and-tunnel shoppers, all the while blissfully surrounded by music, music, music. It’s the perfect setup for her to develop her secret identity as The Vinyl Princess, author of both a brand-new zine and blog. From the safety of her favourite place on earth, Allie is poised to have it all: love, music and blogging . . .or is she?

Rock on!

Christmas Sights 2011

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:20:00 +0000

I'm an absolute sucker for those miniature Christmas villages people set up on their mantelpieces at this time of year. If I had boundless room my own village would no doubt expand to the point where it would, in fact, be so large you'd have to call it a town.

Recently my dad told me about a fantastic Christmas display in Campbellville that features a collection of these Christmas villages as well as lights, animated boxes and more. So this past Sunday Paddy and I drove up to The Stonehouse in Campbellville to visit the Singleton family's Christmas lights display. It's open to the public free of charge from mid-November to the end of December and donations made on sight go to Halton Women's Place for its Children's programs.

The display is totally charming and I swear I've never heard a kid filled with such excitement as the young girl who, during our visit, squealed with uncontainable glee from behind us. "I love this!"

I've posted a selection of photos from our visit below, starting with the fuel we ingested before our visit — a sugar cookie (mine) and mince pie (Paddy's) from our local bakery here. In one of the snaps you can even see me doing an amazing skating stunt!

Time Keeps on Slipping, Slipping, Slipping...

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 02:05:00 +0000

into the future, just like the song says. Sometimes I feel like the Doctor must be messing with the fabric of time because, for instance, how can it already be two weeks since I last updated my blog? What has happened during all that time (aside from my trips to the cinema to watch Arthur Christmas, Hugo and Breaking Dawn)?? Shouldn't I have more to show for it?

Now, if the Doctor is fooling around with time I'm sure it's in the service of good and that the earth has just been saved from maleovalent aliens but for our own sake we haven't been allowed to remember it. If this is the case I heartily thank the Doctor for once again rescuing humanity (and humbly request that he consider doing something about getting us Canadians a half decent Prime Minister). Either way I'm hoping to get much more writing done next week because I'm falling behind in my new book and have left the main character alone in the middle of a very precarious situation for far too long. Let me tell you, she's not happy about this. I'm probably going to hear alot of crap from her when I get back to the book!

Meanwhile in real life I've acquired a case of shopping mall sickness which comes from having been in four shopping malls (five if you count the Atrium on Bay) within the last three days. Not that I've bought alot mind you, but I've spent hour upon hour there just the same. I think shopping mall air must be similar in quality to airplane air because I feel generally lacklustre and am exhibiting the symptoms of a head cold. Today the Santa Claus in Dixie Value Mall wished me a Merry Christmas as I passed him, without me having to sit on his knee or anything. Hopefully the good vibes will set me right
again soon but while I'm on the subject how ridiculous is it that while even a discount shopping mall has a real-life Santa to visit Toronto's Eaton Centre has nixed this longtime tradition in favour of offering Skype visits with Santa? That's a big bah humbug of an idea to me. So much of daily life now is already divorced from reality and spent interacting with electronic devices. The cool thing about being able to meet a mythological figure like Santa live in the flesh is the fact that, well, he's live in the flesh.

And it's doubly a shame because the Eaton Centre used to have some of the best Santas around (I was so entranced by a particular one that I felt compelled to go have a chat with him myself a few years ago, picture at right). Great job with the cool illuminated giant deer decorations, Eaton Centre, but thumbs down on the too cool for school Santa Skype idea.

During my time in downtown Toronto yesterday I had a chance to check out G for Gelato at the corner of Adelaide and Jarvis. I'm a total sucker for gelato and after reading the Toronto Star review I was all excited to stop by. Trust me, if you're as big a fan of gelato as I am you should go too. So yummy (I had the pistachio)! And my husband really enjoyed their espresso too.

Anyway, I hope you'll forgive me if I stay away from the blog a little longer to try to make progress on my current book. By the way, the other day I noticed that my next book, Yesterday, has been posted on Goodreads. It doesn't hit shelves until next September so there's no finalized cover yet but I'm excited to see it just dipping its toe into the pool of existence at this stage and when I can, I'll definitely say more!

Alternate (Unisex) Covers

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:17:00 +0000

The following post is inspired by one I read on YA author Jill Murray's blog last year about gender and reading. In it she did some very cool unisex cover designs for her books Break On Through and Rhythm and Blues. I've been meaning, ever since I read her post, to create my own more unisex covers.

Personally, I bristle at the idea that people are drawn to certain design types based on their gender but advertisers and marketers make a living out of trying to hem people in and shrink them down to size. They attempt to define us with their visions of masculinity and femininity because if they can convince us who we are, they can also convince us what we need to buy in order to be that guy or girl.

There's a common belief in YA publishing (pretty much the same one we see at play in Hollywood movie making) that guys don't want to read about girls. It's insulting, to say the least and who's to say how true it really is or how true it would be if entertainment wasn't so often designed and packaged with that sexist belief in mind? The ideas constantly put across by advertisers and mass media are that guys like fast cars, team sports, tech gadgets, shoot-em up action in their entertainment, hate shopping (except for fast cars, tech gadgets and shoot-em up entertainment), love beer, are sex obsessed but mostly uninterested in intimacy and are emotionally one-dimensional. Girls, on the other hand are portrayed as innately nurturing and communicative, ruled by their emotions, obsessed with romantic love, shopping, fashion, 'pretty' things in general and anything related to the home and cooking.

And so L'Oreal Vive for Men and Axe put their products in a black bottle they think exudes a masculine look while chocolate bar Yorkie even goes so far as to proclaim on the package 'It's not for girls'. Meanwhile practically anything marketed to woman and girls (we're talking telescopes to frying pans to the game of Monopoly) is released in a pink edition as though anyone with ovaries has a deep and natural affinity for the colour. Pink's become a sort of marketing shorthand — girls, this is for you.

The publishing industry, having figured out teenage boys don't read much (though again, who knows why? Is it because it's ingrained in them by society that this activity isn't for them? How can we ever say what they or anyone would naturally be drawn to when we're bombarded by gender pressure messages from the moment we're born?) chiefly focuses their marketing efforts on girls. Publishers (with added pressure from chain Booksellers) don't rely on pink to gender code their products the way many other industries do but they definitely do gender code YA covers and more often than not those covers are designed to appeal to girls (more on that here) in a monolithic way.

No doubt this coding does sell a certain numbers of books but the problem is that in aiming for a certain kind of reader, a cover can alienate others. Like guys and girls who feel that coding has marked that book as being not for them, albeit in a subtler way than the Yorkie bar!

I like to think of my books as potentially appealing to readers of any gender yet I've read, not infrequently, reviews or Internet commenters mention that while they believe boys would enjoy I Know It's Over or My Beating Teenage Heart, for example, they probably wouldn't pick them up in the first place because of their covers. In the case of I Know It's Over a writer friend passed on direct comments from a sixteen-year-old boy she knew who, after reading the book, said it was awesome and that he had several friends who should read it but that he knew they'd be worried about being seen with the cover.

Firstly, I hate the fact that teenage boys feel their gender is so strictly policed, by each other as well as by much of the rest of society, (if you want to know more about that read Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School) that it stops them from picking up certain books. Hate it.I hate gender policing in general because it limits all of us.

Secondly, although I'm fond of my book covers I can also see that while they may attract some readers, likewise they'll discourage others. So I've run with Jill Murray's idea (before I was published I used to regularly design mock covers for my stuff) and have re-imagined the covers of all my books to appeal to a different audience, chiefly, a more unisex one but also perhaps more literary in nature (maybe I'm having delusions of grandeur?). You'll notice I've avoided faces (faces on covers are a pet peeve of mine) and people in general and have instead concentrated on mood. Have a look and see what you think. Do these alternate covers make the books feel like different entities than the current covers suggest? Do they make you more interested in the books or less?

Occupy

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:07:00 +0000

Driving back from The Airborne Toxic Event's show at The Phoenix last night I was extremely relieved to see the Occupied protesters' tents still in St. James Park. I'd heard about the eviction notices issued earlier in the day but hadn't yet heard the later news of the injunction granting them a temporary reprieve.

Too many people have too little to get by on and it's getting worse by the day as numerous western governments push austerity agendas crippling our societies. Like millions of other people, I don't want to live in a society where the rich grow richer while the poor and dwindling middle class struggle to land and keep the ever fewer decent jobs on offer and stress over health care bills and skyrocketing third level education costs. How is it that austerity seems to be prescribed for everyone but the rich? In a truly democratic society this would not be the way of things.

For most of us and our families there's not a happy future in store if the wealthiest force us to continue to tread down this path. The Occupy protesters are saying, very vocally, that this must stop, that the status quo is poision and they want democracy back. For all our sakes.

Thank you, Canadian Occupy protesters for standing on guard for this country. Thank you, Occupy protesters everywhere for refusing to give in to economic tyranny.

Campaign for the American Reader

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:12:00 +0000

I just finished the final book in Australian author John Marsden's amazing Tomorrow series. I've become very attached to main character Ellie and so immersed in the harrowing situations she and her friends have had to deal with since Australia was invaded in book one that I'm experiencing a good bit of withdrawal now.

This series is something I should've read ages back but somehow it slipped under my radar until YA author Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson recommended it to me months ago. So, thank you, Kathleen, and thanks, Marshal Zeringue, for having me over to Campaign for the American Reader where you can read some more of my thoughts on this mesmirizing series from the nineties.

Happy Halloween!

Kirkus on My Beating Teenage Heart

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 01:20:00 +0000

Years ago I used to have a bunch of movie review guides and in one of them (I can't remember who the reviews were written by in the specific book I'm thinking of but it definitely wasn't Roger Ebert and I don't believe it was Leonard Maltin either) the worst reviews earned a turkey rating so instead of any stars next to the movie title there was just a tiny turkey image.

Anyway, it happens that the Kirkus review of My Beating Teenage Heart is essentially a turkey review. Kirkus didn't go so far as to include a turkey icon but I'll do them the favour of adding it here. I'm guessing it's the same Kirkus reviewer who didn't like The Lighter Side of Life and Death because they both have an obvious fondness for ending on zingers.

Here's the last sentence of The Lighter Side of Life and Death review by Kirkus:

“For a summer novel focusing on love and lust, this barely causes the temperature to rise.”

And here are the closing words of their My Beating Teenage Heart review:

“Beats only with a dull pulse.”

BAM! KAPOW! ZOWIE! Take that hapless YA writer!

Now, we're all aware that it's par for the course that you'll be subjected to negative reviews sometimes if you're writing or performing so, although I would've much preferred a positive review, it's not the thumbs down in itself that particularly bothers me about the Kirkus review. No, it's that reviewer refers to one of the main characters, seventeen-year-old Breckon who feels responsible for the death of his little sister, as sulking and moping.

To me, moping suggests something like the following scenario — a kid who breaks his father's camera (an expensive piece of equipment that he was forbidden to use) is grounded and therefore not allowed to go to the local amusement park with his friends the next day. He's sure they're having an amazing time on the scrambler and tilt-a-whirl while he shuffles around the house, looking bored and feeling sorry for himself for missing out. Personally I'd consider that moping and sulking. What I don't feel qualifies as 'sulking' and 'moping' are grieving, suicidal thoughts and clinical depression, you know? There's a crucial distinction to be made there and while we're talking about fiction here, what does this review say to someone who is genuinely experiencing deep grief and/or suffering from depression? That real people don't ever feel this way and if they do their emotions are overwrought? And so those references to moping and sulking in the Kirkus review, they bother me a great deal.

Below are some real life stats and info about suicide, depression and complicated grief that I think it's extremely important to be aware of and take seriously.

Click any of the below to be taken to the original source of the information.

• "Untreated depression is the number one cause of suicide."

• In Canada suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth aged 15 to 24. "More teenagers and young adults die from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia and influenza, and chronic lung disease, combined."

• In the U.S. in 2007, "suicide was the third leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24."

• "About 20% of teens will experience teen depression before they reach adulthood. Approximately 5% of teens are suffering from major depression at any one time."

• "Nearly five times as many males as females ages 15 to 19 died by suicide." Overall men are nearly 4 times more likely to die by suicide than women but women attempt suicide 3 times as often as men.

• "Bereaved individuals who either feel the death of their loved one is unexpected or violent may be at greater risk for suffering from major depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or complicated grief."

• One of the factors that increase the risks of teen suicide is "A recent traumatic incident (the loss of a loved one, legal troubles, a hard break-up, etc.)." Other factors include having a mental illness, such as depression or bipolar, having a substance abuse problem, having a history of violence or abuse in the home and a GLBT sexual orientation.

• Grief can "take intense forms that surprise a bereaved person, including forms that in other circumstances would be called a psychiatric disorder... if the symptoms linger and become increasingly debilitating, the condition turns into what is now being called unresolved, protracted, traumatic, or complicated grief. It has features of both depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)...The most characteristic symptoms are intrusive thoughts and images of the deceased person and a painful yearning for his or her presence. Other complications are denial of the death, imagining that the dead person is alive, desperate loneliness and helplessness, anger and bitterness, and wanting to die."

• "1.9 million Americans are cutters...Often people say that self-injury helps them to release unbearable tension, which arises from anxiety, grief, anger and loss. Many people deal with their pain differently by turning to drinking, smoking, drugs or even through crime. Some even do all of these things. They come to feel like lost souls wondering in the dark."

The American Academy of Pediatrics describes the following signs that may signal that a depressed teen may be considering suicide:

• withdrawal from friends and family members
• trouble in romantic relationships
• difficulty getting along with others
• changes in the quality of schoolwork or lower grades
• rebellious behaviors
• unusual gift-giving or giving away own possessions
• appearing bored or distracted
• writing or drawing pictures about death
• running away from home
• changes in eating habits
• dramatic personality changes
• changes in appearance (for the worse)
• sleep disturbances
• drug or alcohol abuse
• talk of suicide, even in a joking way
• having a history of previous suicide attempts

If you suspect your teenage son or daughter is suicidal, get them professional help immediately. If you're a young person who is experiencing these feelings themselves or know someone who is please tell someone —a parent, teacher, counselor, someone who will be able to get help.

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in an acute crisis (if a friend or loved one is threatening, talking about or making plans for suicide):

•Do not leave the person alone.
•Remove from the vicinity any firearms, drugs or sharp objects that could be used for suicide.
•Take the person to an emergency room or walk-in clinic at a psychiatric hospital.
•If a psychiatric facility is unavailable, go to your nearest hospital or clinic.
•If the above options are unavailable, call 911 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) in the U.S.

In Canada young people can call Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868. Other Canadian suicide hotline numbers are available here.

Eighties Week!

noreply@blogger.com (C.K.) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:29:00 +0000

I'm having my own personal eighties week up here in Southern Ontario with a Howard Jones gig this past Tuesday and Duran Duran show tonight and believe me, the air around me is rife with nostalgia and excitement. I was an enormous fan of both musical acts when I was a teenager and that music still totally gets to me. I mean, I still feel wistful when I hear Duran Duran's Save A Prayer, charged up when I listen to New Moon on Monday and like I want to make peace with the whole world when Howard Jones sings Like to Get to Know You Well. My Simon Le Bon crush is recorded in my old school yearbook (in the form of a French poem) for everyone to see and Howard Jones has to be one of the most positive performers I've ever seen play live. That's as true now as it was when I saw him at the Kingswood Music Theatre and Maple Leaf Gardens in the mid-eighties. He's infectiously warm, endearing and hopeful. How could you not love someone who sings about throwing off your mental chains?

Anyway, the funniest thing about the Howard Jones show (which was superb!) is that I've never seen so many people from a single demographic gathered in one place. Never. Literally ninety-nine percent of the people there were men and women I could've gone to high school with. The age range looked like it stretched from about three years younger than me to three years older and that—well it was kind of a shock. How did I get to be this old? Like, I must have fallen through a time portal or something because it doesn't seem possible. I know it's been a long time since high school (so long that it's highly possible I did go to high school with some of those folks at the show and just didn't recognize them) but I feel basically like the same person I was in university.

I guess maybe you always do because I could tell Howard Jones felt like the same person too. That's one of the things I love about seeing these fabulous acts that debuted in the eighties; they show those of us who grew up in the 80s and the bands/artists that played the songs that were the soundtrack to our lives that we're all still around doing our thing. So, hey, if in another twenty-plus years these guys are still touring I intend to still be in the audience, singing along to the songs I know by heart (even all those years later because, like Depeche Mode sang, I Just Can't Get Enough) and I'm guessing many of the people who I could've gone to high school with will be there too.

Eighties forever!

Update (October 28)

Now I can say I sang Happy Birthday to Simon Le Bon! Loved Duran Duran's mix of Wild Boys and Relax at the ACC last night. So great to see the band and audience having so much fun throughout the night.