I just returned from a working holiday in Canada. In between spending time with family and friends, I launched Amanda in France: Fire in the Cathedral. It was so wonderful to be able to do this in person again. I love visiting bookstores, libraries and schools, and introducing my latest book. The people you meet at these events are amazing. Of course they are, they’re readers, my favourite kind of people.
I did author events in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, on the east coast of Canada, in Vancouver, BC on the west coast and in Medicine Hat and Calgary, Alberta. Everywhere I went, I met new and long-time Amanda fans of all ages. It was a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures.
Book launch at Albany Books in TsawwassenThe bookstore supplied macarons!
When I got home I received this lovely message from someone who bought a copy of Amanda in France for her mom. “My Momma just phoned to say how much she’s loving Amanda and the Cathedral!!! She’ll be ordering more from Albany Books.”
Popped into Blue Heron Books in Comox, BC to introduce myself and my books. They are now carrying the Amanda Travels books.
We had a great turnout at Unlimited Characters Bookstore in Medicine Hat.
Reading to the childrenA school presentation – my favourite thing to do. The students were wonderful.A happy Amanda fan.Presentation and reading at the Okotoks LibraryAnd sometimes in people’s backyards
While I was at Indigo/Chapters in Charlottetown PEI, a woman stopped by and bought 4 books. She was a long-time friend of a cousin from Calgary, Alberta. These are the amazing things that happen on book tours.
Thank you to everyone who attended the book presentations and signings.You make my job fun!
Today is the last official day of the blog tour and I wish to thank everyone for your amazing support. I hope you have all found new and interesting blogs to follow and made new friends and followers. Thank you to everyone who offered to be part of the tour and a huge thanks to all of you who read, liked, commented and shared the posts. You are all amazing. Today I am being featured on Lisa Day’s blog, Book Time, where she asks me some great questions. Say hi to Lisa, a fellow Canadian who loves words – editing, writing and reading them. She reviews many great books!
I am the last stop of the Amanda in Malta: The Sleeping Lady blog tour.
Sadly, my copy of Amanda in Malta hasn’t yet arrived, however, I have been following along with the other 11 bloggers on this blog tour so I got a sense of both Amanda, the main character, and the questions I wanted to ask its creator – Canadian author Darlene Foster.
Foster said growing up on a ranch in Alberta inspired her love of reading and seeing the world. Now retired, she has house in Spain where she spends time with her husband and rescue dogs, Dot and Lia, while writing full time. She also travels, meeting interesting people and getting inspirations for her series about Amanda, a 12-year-old girl who travels the world, learning about the people and culture while solving a mystery. Amanda in Malta: The Sleeping Lady is the eighth book in…
Today the blog tour takes us to Meggie’s Adventures,travel, thank you notes and other stories from Meg King-Sloan. Meg blogs about things she loves. When Meg was younger she had lots of interesting adventures. These included collecting postcards and other souvenirs, watching butterflies, and going to the beach with her family. Some things never change though – she still loves candy (especially chocolate), ice cream and flowers! Sounds like Meg was a bit like Amanda when she was young.
Amanda in Malta by Darlene Foster – Virtual Tour
Darlene Foster is introducing her new book with a virtual blog tour! This is the latest exciting adventure from her Amanda Travels series. If you’d like to see what other bloggers involved in the tour have written you can check out this post from Darlene’s blog.
Darleneexplains the purpose of including food in her stories:
Traditional food is important to every culture. I like to have Amanda try the local food when she travels. Children need to know that people eat different food in other parts of the world and they should at least try it. It bothers me when travellers insist on eating food only familiar to them. Amanda likes to cook and try out recipes so she collects ideas as she travels and makes them for her parents. Read more and an excerpt here
I am delighted to be a guest on Debra Purdy Kong’s blog featuring a wonderful 5 star review. I am off to Canada to do a book tour and visit family and friends. Debra has listed a couple of events in the Vancouver area. If you are nearby, please do drop in and say Hello. Would love to meet some of my blogging buddies.
Welcome Guest Blogger, Darlene Foster
My guest today is author Darlene Foster, the creator of the popular Amanda Travels series featuring Amanda Ross, a twelve-year-old Canadian girl who loves to travel to interesting places. The seventh book in the series, Amanda in Holland – Missing in Action, has just been released by Central Avenue Publishing and is available through most bookstores.
As you could see from my previous posts, I had a wonderful time back in Canada visiting family and friends. But the trip was also to promote my books, more specifically my latest release, Amanda in New Mexico – Ghosts in the Wind. I had a lot of fun at the pre-planned events and thought I would share them with you.
I was invited by the Vancouver Public Library to be a workshop leader at their annual one week Writers and Book Camp held at the main branch, downtown Vancouver. This is my favourite library and I was honoured to be able to share some of my writing knowledge with the eager participants. These 9 to 13-year olds were serious writers. I created a workshop called Writing – It’s More Than What You See. We discussed how using all the senses makes writing more effective. I also spoke about how I use photographs to inspire my writing and gave them examples. I showed them one of my pictures and had them write for fifteen minutes, using as many senses as possible. Then they shared their work. I was amazed at what they produced in such a short time. The participants said they enjoyed the workshop and learned a lot. I had so much fun delivering it.
The Vancouver Public Library, an amazing building built to look like the Colosseum
A ‘place of books and learning
All set up and ready for the eager students
I then went on to Calgary where I did a presentation and book signing at the Shawnessy Branch of the Calgary Public Library. The event was well attended and I sold all the books I brought along! The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful. Another great experience.
Display at a Calgary Library
Some attentive listeners at the presentation
Some of the attendees were cousins. So great to see them.
Next stop was Coles Indigo Bookstore in my hometown, Medicine Hat. I saw so many folks I hadn’t seen for a long time, former neighbours, childhood friends, relatives and even my first landlady from fifty years ago. I sold out of books!
As you can see, I had help.
Back to BC where I held my book launch at Albany Books in Tsawwassen. This bookstore has been so supportive of me and other local authors over the years. The staff are fantastic. Even though it was a sunny Saturday, the last long weekend of the summer, many people came out to chat and buy books.
With my amazing publisher, Michelle. She is like a fairy godmother and makes all this happen!
Book launch for Amanda in New Mexico: Ghosts in the Wind
I was invited to do a presentation at a BC Association of Travel Writers MeetUp where I spoke about How to Turn Your Travels into a Series of Travel Adventure Books to a sold-out crowd. Everyone enjoyed the PowerPoint presentation and many great questions were asked. Great to see many travel writer friends and meet new people.
Since I was leaving after the first week of school, I was only able to visit one school this time. It was my sixth time to do a presentation at Holly Elementary in Surrey. The students there are huge Amanda Travels fans and some of the grade sevens even dropped in as they wanted to hear what Amanda was up to. I enjoy visiting this school with students from diverse cultures. They loved the theme of the latest book and when I showed them the trailer for Amanda in New Mexico, they stood up and clapped!
Presenting to a captive audience of about 100 at Holly Elementary School
As always, they asked many good questions.
My last event was a book signing at Indigo-Chapters on Granville Street in Vancouver, the largest bookstore in BC. It was a dream come true to hold an event at this bookstore. Many people stopped by my table to chat and buy books. There are many new Amanda fans now. I sold all but two of the books in stock. Happy days.
A friend helping out at the book signing
Signing books at Indigo-Chapters, another dream come true.
A fabulous sign in Indigo Chapters
I got to spend time in libraries, bookstores and schools, my favourite places, as well as meet some amazing people. It was a lot of work but well worth it.
“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” -Marcel Proust
I was fortunate to see many of my awesome friends when I was in Canada. Some gave me a place to stay, some drove me around and everyone fed me so well. They have all been such huge supporters in whatever I do. Here are a few of them.
It was great that these good friends from Trinidad were in Canada at the same time.
A picnic with friends at English Bay before a Bard on the Beach performance
A special Bard Buddy who organized the day.
Always fun to be part of the cast with another special Bard Buddy
A longtime Calgary friend and travel buddy who drove me around, gave me a place to stay and fed me well.
A wonderful supportive Vancouver friend who gave me rides and attended events.
A special relative/friend!
A dear friend who provides me with a great place to stay and feeds me well.
A lovely mother and daughter team who gave me a comfy room to stay during my first week in Vancouver, fed me well and gave me tons of support.
Travel writer/photographer friend who took my profile picture and designed my bookmarks. Treated me to a lovely lunch overlooking a golf course.
A supportive writer friend who treated me to a lovely picnic and a Monet exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
A former coworker and her daughter who came to a book signing
My longtime friend who provides me with a comfy place to stay in Medicine Hat, a garden to relax in and delicious meals
As you can see I was well looked after. It was so wonderful to be able to spend time with these friends and many others. I am truly blessed.
“There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.”
― Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey
“You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
After visiting six cities in BC and Alberta, travelling by car, train, metro, bus, large and small aircraft and ferry, I am back in Spain and back to blogging. It feels like such a long time since I wrote my last post. The trip was successful on so many levels. I was able to see many family members and friends. The time spent with my mom was precious and seeing my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren was wonderful. I was treated to many amazing meals, picnics, a Monet Exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery, a remarkable production of Much Ado About Nothing at Bard on the Beach and a performance by my son’s new band who dedicated the first song to me! I launched Amanda in New Mexico – Ghosts in the Wind and sold out of books at a couple of the venues. Visiting schools, libraries, and bookstores is always a pleasure for me. A week as a workshop leader at the Vancouver Public Library´s Writers and Book Camp was a real treat as was presenting at the BC Association of Travel Writers.
It was a busy schedule and I am now catching up on sleep and chores but I wanted to share a few pictures with you. I’ll start with the most important, my family.
Mom with me and my great-granddaughter, Emma.
An Amanda Travel’s fan
With my handsome musician son and his daughter
Sharing Mexican food with grandson No. 1.
His first car!
Sharing Indian food with grandson No. 2
Grandson at his youth group’s garden produce stand.
Great granddaughter, Devin
Another Amanda Travels fan with a matching Day of the Dead bowl.
They are all growing up and becoming amazing young folks. I enjoyed every minute I spent with them. Then it was off to Vancouver Island.
Beautiful potter daughter showing off the skirt I brought her from Cordoba. I think she likes it!
Best buds
Cousins at the beach
Typical fabulous family meal, with daughter and cousins. I am so lucky!!
My new grand-puppy Petite Du Champs. Love him to bits.
Enjoyable lunch in Calgary with the younger brother who is also my clever website designer.
More to come. I missed blogging and was pleased to see my posts continued to be read and commented on while I was away. You folks rock!!
Darlene Foster's Blog 