Happy Canada Day! For Canada Day this year, I'm taking a slightly different approach, and am hosting Ann Marie Meyers on her Blog Tour for UP IN THE AIR, her soon to be released middle grade novel. Ann Marie is a Jolly Fish Press publisher-mate of mine, and she lives in Toronto. I had the opportunity to meet her while in Toronto this week!
The interview...
BCD: Hi Ann Marie and
Happy Canada Day! And congrats on your upcoming release of Up in the Air!
AMM: Thanks Brenda. It’s wonderful to chat with you today.
Oh, and Happy Canada Day to you as well.
BCD: So because it’s Canada Day, and I know you hail from
Trinidad, I thought maybe you could tell us a bit of your journey that brought
you to Canada. What brought you north?
AMM: My husband, no less. And a bit of synchronicity. We had
just moved back to Manhattan after spending several years in California (long
story there). After all that time, the city felt strange to us. Manhattan was
busier, noisier, so much more intense. I think our absence for so long had
softened us, though I have to admit that my daughter, who was three years old
at the time, took to the city like a shark
in water. J
My husband, to my utter shock and horror, wanted to leave for somewhere
‘calmer’. Coincidentally, around that time, he decided to fulfill one of his
dreams of riding (on his motorcycle) to Toronto; which he fell in love with instantly.
And so after lots of discussion, preparation, formalities etc. etc., we ended
up moving here.
BCD: Wow, quite a journey! Were there any Canadian influences in the writing of
Up In the Air?
AMM: Not at all. I
started writing Up In The Air while I
was still in the States. The idea came to me while I was meditating one day,
and it resonated with me so strongly that I knew I had to write it.
BCD: I know one of the questions I had as a new author was: how will being Canadian affect my journey to publication? So I’d like to talk about that with another fellow author on the northern side of the border. Do you have an agent in Canada? How did you meet him/her?
 |
| Ann Marie and I in Toronto, with an Up in the Air ARC! |
AMM: Actually, I
signed directly with Jolly Fish Press. I had taken a year off from writing to
clear my mind and recover from so many rejections. However, in April of 2012 I
got this overriding drive to tackle Up In
The Air again. In June, I submitted the manuscript to Jolly Fish Press and
they signed me up shortly afterwards.
BCD: Wow, that's great! I know that Jolly Fish Press is located
in the US, what are some pros and cons of living in one country and publishing
in another?
AMM: One big pro is
that my book will have an immediate and greater presence in the US. I will also
have a wider audience where the books can sell and I can even do readings in
the US. The flip side is that it takes longer for books to be shipped to
bookstores here in Canada, not to mention the added taxes and duties involved.
BCD: Good points. On a slightly different tack, what is your favourite
place in Canada you’ve been to so far? And why?
AMM: Montreal! Old
Montreal, in particular, reminds me a bit of Manhattan, NYC. There is a vibrancy
to it, a life all its own that resonated very strongly with me when I visited
with my family. Montreal has a certain character that leaps out at you, and
which I fell in love with immediately.
BCD: Is there anywhere in Canada you haven’t been to yet that
you’d like to go?
AMM: Many places. PEI, Vancouver, Victoria. One of my
dreams is to rent a RV and travel within Canada for at least a couple of
months.
BCD: All great places! I loooooove PEI. And Vancouver, and Victoria... So many places, so little time. Thank you so much for stopping by on your very busy
month, Ann Marie! Best of luck with your book!
AMM: Thanks Brenda!
Ever since she can remember, ten-year-old Melody has always wanted to fly.
And when she leaps off a swing in the park one day and lands in the mystical realm of Chimeroan, her dream finally comes true. She is given a pair of wings. She can fly! Life cannot be any better.
Yet, dreams do come with a price. Even with wings, Melody realizes she cannot outfly the memories of her past. The car accident that has left her father paralyzed, and her unscarred, still plagues her with guilt—she believes that it was entirely her fault.
In Chimeroan, Melody is forced to come to terms with her part in her father's accident. She must choose between the two things that have become the world to her: keeping her wings or healing her father.
You can find Ann Marie Meyers online at these links:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AnnMarieMeyersauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnnMarie_Meyers
Website: http://www.annmarie-meyers.com/
Hope you have a great CANADA DAY, wherever you are!
Brenda
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