The Finding Place: Book Launch!

This past Sunday we held a Book Launch for The Finding Place and the room was packed to the seams! We went for a Chinese theme, to match the book: there were Chinese candies and moon cakes, lanterns hanging from the ceiling, traditional Chinese music and a slide show that played images of the places Kelly visits in the novel. I gave a talk about the inspiration for the book, and a short reading, followed by a book signing. The event concluded with the cutting of a huge cake. It was a wonderful celebration for everyone. Thanks to everyone who joined us!

2015-09-24T00:29:09-04:00September 24, 2015|Home Page, On Writing, The Finding Place|
Read More

The Finding Place: Released Today!

Yes, it has finally arrived… the official release date for The Finding Place is today! My book is for sale in stores. It’s online at amazon.ca and on Indigo/Chapters. The Book Launch is planned for Sunday (come join us for a reading, and a celebration!). I’ve already received several emailed and online reviews. And now the official launch date is here! Rather than blog today, I’m posting a Synopsis below. If you read my novel, please do let me know what you think! And please contact me if you are interested in bringing me in to your school, community, library or book club. You can email me directly at: julie (‘at’ sign here) centauriartscamp (dot)com The big adventure starts today! Synopsis: The Finding Place Found as a baby [...]

2015-09-15T17:36:33-04:00September 15, 2015|Home Page, On Writing, The Finding Place, Young Writers!|
Read More

Four Days to Go… and some photographs

Just four days to go now until the official release date for The Finding Place! I received an email today from a 9 year old who may well be one of the first children to read the book. She told me she had to read it secretly in class when her teacher wasn’t watching because she couldn’t put it down. That’s the sort of email all writers must love receiving. I try to imagine how I would have felt as the teacher… and I know that if I ‘caught’ a student sneak-reading in class I don’t think I would have been angry at all. It’s hardly the same thing as making paper aeroplanes. Anyway, here are some more photos I have to share of magical [...]

2015-09-11T14:39:01-04:00September 11, 2015|Home Page, On Writing, The Finding Place, Young Writers!|
Read More

The Finding Place: Signing Books!

Copies of The Finding Place are already in book shops! There can be few things in life, for a writer, more thrilling that browsing the shelves of your favourite bookstores, and seeing your own book there, among the others. Simply incredible. Today, I visited Another Story in Roncesvalles… and there it was in the children’s section. All the more thrilling because the first part of The Finding Place actually takes place in the Roncesvalles area. Five minutes later and I was seated at a table beside the books, signing copies. There is something rather strange about opening a book that is unsold, fresh off the shelves, and signing your name in it. I felt as if I was wilfully defacing someone else’s property. I had [...]

2015-09-10T00:01:00-04:00September 10, 2015|Home Page, On Writing, The Finding Place|
Read More

The Finding Place: Book Launch Announced!

Join us as we celebrate the launch of The Finding Place! I’ll be there to share a reading from the book, and there will also be a photographic display of all the locations in China featured in the novel. Signed copies will be available for purchase and we’ll be celebrating with food and music! When?      Sunday 20 September, starting 4pm. Where?     Centauri Arts Academy, Studio 218A, 2323 Bloor Street West, Toronto (this is a short walk East of Jane subway; parking is available. We hope to see you there!

2015-09-07T19:01:46-04:00September 7, 2015|Home Page, On Writing, The Finding Place, Young Writers!|
Read More

The Finding Place: The Books have Arrived!

We hit another important milestone with The Finding Place yesterday when many, many boxes of books were shipped from the printer’s to the warehouse at Red Deer Press. I drove up to their offices immediately to collect my author copies. How thrilling it was to hold the book in my hands for the first time! Visiting Red Deer Press itself was equally exciting: being introduced to everyone who works there, seeing displays of all the wonderful books they have published… and then realising The Finding Place was displayed among them! It’s hard to believe, at times, that this is really happening. During our visit, I was asked to sit at an oak desk and sign copies of my book. This was, of course, the very [...]

2015-08-29T17:56:02-04:00August 29, 2015|Home Page, On Writing, The Finding Place|
Read More

The Finding Place in Photographs!

Perhaps you have read The Finding Place, and you’re wondering what many of the landscapes described in the book actually look like. If so, this post is for you! Kelly’s birth village is a fictional creation, but is based on many of the villages I visited in the area around Yangshuo. The image above shows traditional cormorant fishermen putting on a demonstration like the one Kelly sees.

2015-05-16T00:58:49-04:00May 16, 2015|Home Page, The Finding Place|
Read More

The Finding Place – Front Cover!

What a thrilling moment, to see the front cover of your novel for the very first time! And here it is. The background shows the Karst Peaks around Yangshuo, a magical landscape that features prominently in the novel.  

2015-05-15T16:10:45-04:00May 15, 2015|Home Page, On Writing, Parenting, The Finding Place, Uncategorized, Young Writers!|
Read More

Creative Writing: It All Begins with the Daydream

Do we day dream enough these days? Do we tell ourselves stories in our heads for our own entertainment? See something unusual and ask ourselves, what if? Perhaps not. Ten years ago, perhaps twenty, we all had so-called dead time in our days. The walk to work or school. The moments spent relaxing in a bath. Time on public transit. Time spent waiting. And none of it was wasted. We day dreamed. Made plans. Formulated possible futures in our heads to see what they might look like. We imagined, and out of those imaginings ideas were born – some big, some to be discarded or smiled at, all of them worthwhile. These days, dead time has been killed. We fill it with texting, checking emails, [...]

2015-05-05T01:32:26-04:00May 5, 2015|Home Page, On Writing, Parenting, Young Writers!|
Read More

Creative Writing: Getting Surreal

Recently, at the Centauri Arts Academy, I’ve been using surrealist experiments as a part of the writing workshops. Most people take writing workshops for one of three reasons. The first two are usually evident to them: they want to learn techniques that will help make them better writers, and they want to share their work to get help with the editing process. But there is a third reason that writing workshops can be a huge help to young or emerging writers: they help us to identify what inspires us, how and when we are at our most creative, and under what conditions we write best. Discussion with like-minded people is a great way to discover many of these things about ourselves. So are surrealist writing [...]

2015-04-24T00:22:19-04:00April 24, 2015|Home Page, On Writing, Young Writers!|
Read More
Copyright 2012 - 2022 | JulieHartley.ca | All Rights Reserved
FacebookXYouTube
Go to Top