It's been a year-long gargoyle party ...

...and now it comes to an end with the Hackmatack tour, which starts today. I'll be touring New Brunswick and PEI this week, and ending in Charlottetown for the big awards event on May 30th.
I've been so honoured that my book about a lost gargoyle in the big city,
The Gargoyle at the Gates, has been nominated for five awards this year: Red Cedar, Diamond Willow, Silver Birch Express, Cooperative Children's Book Centre (US) and the Hackmatack awards. It was also named a White Raven book 2013 by the International Youth Library in Munich, a huge honour. I've met so many wonderful librarians, teachers, parents, authors and kids all along the way. Thanks everyone for all the fun, it's been a wonderful year and I couldn't be more thankful. It's probably time to start writing another book! PD

11 tips for a SKYPE author visit

Last week, I got to do a SKYPE visit with kids at

Hart Highlands Elementary School, in Prince George BC. That's 3600 kilometers from my house! We had a great time talking about The Gargoyle at the Gates, which is a Red Cedar 2013 nominee this year, a first for me. I'm really honoured, and through the magic of SKYPE, I got to chat with some young BC readers about it.
I've done lots of author visits before, but SKYPE has its own set of rules, I learned. So here, for anyone else doing a SKYPE author visit, a few thoughts:
1. Anything but the wall. I set up a stage, I brought out gargoyle posters and statues, and had them around me. It was visually interesting, a lot more interesting than just staring at my head, I hope.
2. More than 1 book? I read from The Gargoyle at the Gates, but the children had questions about the other books, I'm glad I had them all handy in book stands behind me.
3. Go old school with photos. I have a few books of gargoyle photos from around the world. I held them up to fill the computer screen, and the kids really liked that. Good old codex ruled the day.

4. Disembodied heads are weird. I was on a large screen in the gym. I must have looked bizarre, floating around. If you do a reading, keep it short. It's dull I think (and maybe a bit creepy) to watch a floating head reading away, no matter how fascinating your book might be.
5. Any questions? Tell the teacher ahead of time: take 10 questions, or some previously agreed upon number. Worked like a charm, no dead air, each student came up and sat in the "asking chair" and asked their question, one at a time.
6. Tissue is your friend. Yes, I had a cold. I kept the tissues nearby.
7. Have a prop. I have a gargoyle puppet, which I stuck in frame with me now and then. More visual interest, which the children seemed to like.
8. Give the dog a treat. I went out and bought my dog a new pet toy, which he played with during the whole SKYPE chat. He didn't bark once.
9. Turn off your cell. Yep. Check. No text messages or phone calls to distract me.
10. Hello? Hello? Do a trial run and SKYPE your school the day before. All systems go!
11. Play the guitar. Okay, maybe not everyone can do this one, but I wrote a song for the book, The Gargoyle Shuffle, which I played live for the kids. I got to see them dancing around like gargoyles... since I never take my guitar with me on visits, this one thing alone made the SKYPE visit pretty special!
Thanks Hart Highlands for a fun visit!

Fabulous Teacher's Guide for The Gargoyle at the Gates

Teachers, Parents, Librarians! Here's a wonderful, imaginative Teacher's Guide for The Gargoyle at the Gates, free from my publisher Dundurn Press.

Click and download it here now: Teacher's Guide

Complete with chapter summaries and really creative, fun homework suggestions and full-scale activities (like making your own gargoyle, writing your own gargoyle profile, making a gargoyle bookmark and lots, lots more), this is a great extra to help bring this award-nominated book to life in your classroom. Please enjoy it, compliments of Dundurn Press!

The book has been nominated for the following awards:
OLA Silver Birch Express 2014
BC Red Cedar Award 2014
SYRCA Diamond Willow Award 2014
Hackmatack Award 2014
Cooperative Children's Book Award 2013
White Raven 2013

The Gothic Gargoyle Ballet

Listen to the Gargoyle Shuffle

What would a dancing gargoyle look like, do you think? 
I can't show you, sorry, you'll have to imagine it. But I CAN let you listen to the Gargoyle Shuffle. It's a guitar piece I wrote for the description of gargoyles dancing in my children's book, The Gargoyle at the Gates (p. 91).

Click here for the Gargoyle Shuffle. Enjoy!

"Christopher ... picked up his guitar and began playing into the night. Snow was falling delicately, softening and quieting the busy city. His music lifted through the snowy air. Ambergine came out of the bushes first and stepped into the spotlight near the apple tree ... Then she started spiralling and pirouetting in the snow, dancing to the guitar music. Slowly Gargoth joined her ... and there in the snowy, strange little gothic park, Christopher watched the two ancient creatures dance and pirouette and move together in a gargoyle ballet, as the snow fell gently upon them." From The Gargoyle at the Gates, p. 91

5 Award Nominations for The Gargoyle at the Gates

I couldn't be more honoured ...
I've started many of my tweets and blog posts with those words lately, and I mean it every time I write it.
The Gargoyle at the Gates, the third book in the Lost Gargoyle Series, has now received five award nominations, four in Canada and one in the US, plus it's been honoured with the White Raven 2013 designation from the International Youth Library in Munich and a starred review in the Canadian Children's Best Books for Kids & Teens, 2013.
I'm really, really touched and well, honoured, that this story has been so well received by the YA literary community.  I feel incredibly lucky to be able to share it with children across Canada and around the world.
It's a book about magic and friendship, family and ancestors. It's a book about how to stand up to a bully, how to banish secrets and how to build a community through urban renewal. It's also a book about cruelty, obsession and the courage of resistance.
But more than all that, it's a book about how to make a friend, even with something as seemingly unlovable (at least at first) as a gargoyle. Thank you to everyone who has read Gargoth's story, I hope you enjoyed it! And once again, I'm truly honoured.

Award Nominations & Commendations for The Gargoyle at the Gates:
OLA Silver Birch Express Award, Shortlist 2014
Red Cedar and Stellar Book Award, Shortlist, 2013-2014
CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2013, * Starred Review 
White Raven Book, International Youth Library, Munich, 2013
Hackmatack Children's Choice Awards, Shortlist, 2013-2014
SYRCA Diamond Willow Award, Shortlist, 2013-2014
Cooperative Children's Book Centre Awards Nominee for Best Books for Kids & Teens (2012)
Resource Links Magazine, A BEST BETS BOOK 2012

Red Cedar Award Nomination for The Gargoyle at the Gates

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It's the Red Cedar Award, 2013-2014!
I couldn't be more honoured to announce that
The Gargoyle at the Gates, book three in the Lost Gargoyle Series, has been nominated for a Red Cedar Award.
Thank you so much to the librarians, teachers and booksellers in British Columbia, I'm so surprised and delighted.This is a new nomination for me, and I can't wait to connect with children and teachers in B.C. in the months ahead.
Here is a link to the book page and a list of nominees, congratulations to everyone: Red Cedar 2013 Nominees
Here is my publisher's announcement about the award:
Dundurn Red Cedar Announcement
To find out what other recent honours the book has received, click here.