Check out that fox atop the welcome to White Fox sign. Beautiful!
I could get used to this touring business. Today I had a rather boisterous group in Nipawin who kept me on my toes with lots of excellent (and quirky) questions. See my round-up below for examples. I also dropped by Tisdale to speak to grade 6 and grade 12 CanLit students before “Running Back to Saskatoon” (Guess Who reference!)* And by ‘running’ I mean driving. There was a brief period where I could find only 3 radio stations: the french station, the country station, and the agricultural/farm news station. Needless to say I heard a lot of Faith Hill this afternoon.
In other news, I spoke to Braden Dupuis at The Prince Albert Daily Herald yesterday. Click here to read the article, in which I am almost eloquent.
Here’s a great TD Book Week recap by Melanie Fishbane at Indigo Kids Online, who attended the TD Book Week tea a few weeks ago along with Willow Dawson, myself, and Brian Deines, among others.
And lastly, I will be at McNally Robinson Saskatoon on Saturday, May 12th at 11am if you want to stop by, say hello, or get a book signed!
Number of kilometres driven: 418
Best roadside sign: ‘Eggs and Baked Goods.’ What more do you need?
Favourite singalong song: Footloose by Kenny Loggins
Number of slow-moving farm vehicles I had to pass: 3
Best food related question: What kind of cupcake would you be? This one was easy! The most delicious kind: vanilla with chocolate icing. I wonder if I can order cupcakes from room service…
Question I could not answer: What’s your favourite song? Seriously, can ANYONE answer this question?
Favourite student interaction #1:
The Scene: During a writing exercise I ask students to pull things out of a bag. A Young Writer pulls a ring out of a backpack.
Me: A ring! What is a possible reason for this ring being here?
Young Writer: It’s a horcrux.
Now THAT’S something I hadn’t heard before!
Favourite student interaction #2:
The scene: I present a vintage purse and ask the group what their first impressions are. Mr. Nice Guy is frowning at me, so naturally I single him out and ask him what he thinks.
Me: You look like you have an opinion you want to share.
Mr. Nice Guy: I don’t want to say.
Me: Why not?
Mr NG: In case it’s yours.
Me: It’s not.
Mr. NG: I think it’s an ugly old lady purse.
Me: Fair enough! Was that so hard?
Mr. NG: It’s yours, isn’t it?
Me: I’ll never tell.
Of course the purse is mine! But don’t worry Mr. Nice Guy, my feelings aren’t hurt. I don’t expect many 9 year old boys to be interested in vintage clutches.
Tonight I’m going for a leisurely swim in the hotel pool to soothe my driving muscles and then one day more!
*Was my Guess Who reference too obscure for you? For shame! Here are the boys during their 1997 reunion tour:
