>Heavy Metal rules : )

>Got a big kick out of this article:

"The most gifted teenagers often love heavy metal music because it relieves the pressure of being smart, says a British psychologist who has boosted the images of bright kids and metalheads together."

Click here: Headbanging is cool and good for your brain!

Ah, I know. I'm a softy for good ol' Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and the Scorpions and...well, I could go on. But for someone who grew up loving science fiction and fantasy, these were the best bands to listen to. What could be more cool than Priest singing about Metal Gods? Maiden doing their 13 minute epic version of The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner? I still listen to those bands, especially since I've been chipping away on a Victorian project. And Maiden's last album (did I just write Album) is one of their best.

Up the Irons! No Sleep 'til Hammersmith!

Art

P.S. On a completely unrelated note, isn't the new Battlestar Galactica a great show? Just finished watching the 1st season. Now have to save up my loonies and toonies to get the next season.

>Mini Tour

>Just wanted to share a few of the dates from my mini-tour:
Vancouver: Vancouver Kidsbooks April 30th 4PM just signing a few books
Nanaimo: Harbourfront Library 1:30 PM May 2nd For the launch of Invasion of the IQ Snatchers
Saskatoon: Mcnally Robinson May 26th 2PM For another launch of Invasion of the IQ Snatchers

It's actually a lot busier than that, but the rest of the time is at schools, oh and I spend a week in Banff teaching children's writing at the Banff Centre of the Arts.
Art
Here's the fancy invite my publisher created...

>Stylin'

>Well today I was at James L. Alexander school here in Saskatoon to do an author presentation to grades 6-8. Presentations are always fun and can be full of surprises (like that time the firebell went off a few years ago...ha...that was funny). In this case, I had perhaps the kindest comment in ages from one of the students. One of the girls came up after the presentation to tell me that my shoes were "stylin.'" Wow. I'm pushing 40 but I still have stylin' shoes. They're Blundstone boots, for those who are curious. What does this have to do with writing? Hey, it's important to wear good shoes for your public appearances (especially when you have to stand for an hour). Get steel toed boot for meetings with publishers. That's my tip o' the day.

I'm still working away at my "lightning" novel-Worse Than Starkers. I'm in the midst of my 3rd top to bottom rewrite. What I mean by that is I practically throw everything away and start from scratch. Let me see, the first draft was aimed at teens and supposed to be funny and was in 1st person. It wasn't funny enough. I rewrote it, made it a bit more serious and aimed it at a grade 5-6 audience and cut out massive unwieldy chunks. Then, after that I decided the story would be better in 3rd person. Why didn't I start out in 3rd? It's just that sometimes I don't see clearly where the story should be going and who should be reading it. I prefer when everything falls magically onto the page, but I'm still waiting for that to happen. Wait, that's not true, it happened with Monsterology. But hey, that was pure fun. This other writing is work, work, fun, work.

Keep stylin' everyone!

Art

>Megiddo is shaking things up!

>Toot toot toot!

No it's not a train, just tooting my horn for Megiddo's Shadow. It picked up a few nominations this last while:

*Shortlisted for the Canadian Library Association's 2007 Young Adult Book Award
*Selected for Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2007, a cooperative project of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and the Children’s Book Council
*Selected for Books for the Teen Age 2007, a list of books put together by the New York Public Library
*Nominated for a Snow Willow Award, a reader's choice award in my home province of Saskatchewan (go Roughriders!)
*Nominated for a Red Maple Award, a reader's choice award in Ontario. Vote early! Vote often!

Hey and even a nice review from Children's Literature: "This is a highly engrossing and recommended book for young readers. Slade does not pander to his readers; he instead gives them a book whose message and main character embody the very questions and sorrows that are so painfully pertinent to our present point in world history."

I'm glad to see this book has legs. It's just galloping along. Get it? It's a horse novel and....

Art

>Finally, an update! Happy New Year!

>Yep, I have no excuse for not writing on this ol' blog. Well, other than I have been writing. Real writing that is. Or at least the kind of writing that ends up getting published on a dead tree.

What's been new? Uh, we had the biggest baddest worst blizzard in half a century here in Saskatoon. It really was rather amazing. I've never seen the whole city shut down because there was so much wind and snow. Prairie folk don't stop just for a blizzard. But this one made us pause. People even had to stay in Walmart overnight! Walmart! I was glad to have a job that involves staying home and looking out the window. Though I did go out and buy milk. Nearly didn't make it back alive. Well, I could be exaggerating. Here's a pic of our front door.

Frosty, eh?

Have been plugging away on my book for adults. One page a day is my goal. Which is very doable. And sometimes it only takes a few minutes. Have been working much harder though on my next book for middle readers, titled Worse Than Starkers. Already on draft #3. Which is completely different than draft #2. A loooooong process. Don't you hate it when your first idea for a book turns out to be, well, totally wrong. And you have to start over?

Oh, and finished the edits on Villainology, which will be out this fall.

Here's one of the villainous villains. Can you guess who?

And also finished up the edits on The Invasion of the IQ Snatchers. Here's a mock up of the cover.

It all starts when some aliens decide to take over Nanaimo using Nanaimo bars...

That's about it. What's new with you?

Art

>A wrap up! Awards, Bestsellerdom, and travel!

>Ah, it's been too long since I've blogged. But after launching my book in Moose Jaw, I then gallivanted and lurched around Ontario, Manitoba, and more of Saskatchewan. I visited over 50 schools, signed hundreds of books, presented at book stores in Winnipeg, Toronto, and Regina and hardly had a moment's rest. Oh, and I launched Megiddo's Shadow once more at the Nutana Legion here in Saskatoon (they have a wonderful military museum in their basement, which really added to the atmosphere). The launch went well and I didn't put anyone to sleep with my audio/visual show about the book. So now I'm catching up on things, including my writing.

Megiddo has been galloping along. It has been nominated for the Red Maple Reader's Choice Award in Ontario and it won the Saskatchewan Book Award for Children's literature! That was a fun night, I even dressed up in a suit (it's a very classy event). And I was happy to get my official award. Oh, and the $2000.00 cheque. All in all an enjoyable time. Can you believe people actually pay money to dine and watch authors receive awards? My favorite moment was when Martha Blum, who is 91, won for Best Fiction. She's such a wonder and an inspiration.

And to add to the good news Megiddo was a hot pick for School Library Journal and it received a starred review from the same magazine. It's like when we used to get stars put on our papers in school, except even better!

Finally Megiddo actually reached #5 on the Kid's Fiction list in Canada. And has been in the top ten for the last few weeks. Surprised the heck out of me!

Well that's about it...better get back to the grindstone/computer.

Cheers,
Art